Harry Potter and The cloak The stone and The Wand
by Pratyay
Summary: This is a Deathly Hallows alternative which starts midway through the book, from where things went horribly wrong in the original :/, this is not a fluffy story, it's a serious alternative with Harry/Hermione pairing , which otherwise stays true to the book, well mostly.
1. Chapter 1

OK so here it is my first harry potter fiction, finally! So here it goes. The tale starts from where Ron destroys

the horcrux in the locket by stabbing it, before that it's what is written in the original book and I don't intend to change that. This is a Harry/Hermione fiction

(what else were you thinking!) though it will remain true to the original for the most part, but hey I do have some tricks of my own ;)

I thank the writers specially CynicalRomantic09,forbiddenharmony7,,Christina-Pot ter-09 and last but not the least houseelf07,

for their wonderful fictions which were inspiring. _**Guess who's my beta... it's forbiddenharmony7, and she's wonderful**_.

oh yeah and by the way I am not JKR.

_**Harry Potter and The cloak The stone and The Wand**_

_** chapter 1**_

Ron Weasley was shaking, the locket was destroyed with one final blow but the images it showed were still fresh in his mind. Ron finally let go of the Gryffindor

sword and fell to his knees breathless. The cold breeze was blowing hard but both the boys were sweating. Harry Potter took one final look at the locket and

then pocketed it. There was silence. " _We should head back Ron, Hermione would be worried,_" Harry spoke first but neither of them moved - there was just silence

again.

"_Harry_..." Ron said in a low voice finally looking away from the the space where the locket had shown Harry and Hermione's fake form passionately kissing and

disapproving him as a friend. It was all an illusion but it was indeed his worst fear that he kept secret even from himself until now.

"_Do you... do you love her Harry...do you love Hermione the way i think you do...like I always thought you did"_ Ron almost whispered but Harry heard it and his eyes

went wide. "_Ron! none of this was real, it was the Horcrux..._" Harry blurted out a bit too quickly.

"_I know that_.." Ron spoke again not letting Harry finish his words. The chilling wind was blowing harder now,it was raining leaves, the old and dead ones from

the trees which were making noises, urging them to listen and cherish the rhythmic tone of it but none of them paid any attention to it. "_I need to know this _

_Harry or I'll never be able to be my self again, I'll never be able to be your friend again and Merlin knows I want to, I want this to end ... This tension, I want it to stop _

_so please tell me, __answer me truthfully... Do you love her?_" Ron pleaded after sometime. Harry was at a loss for words he was also angry and frustrated. He

wanted Ron back but not this. How could he bring up something like this now? How could he answer this when he was himself confused. So he began

"_Of course I love her Ron, like a sister...I love her like a..._" but he didn't finish. His voice was firm and loud but somehow it was not that convincing, even to

himself, he thought. There was a strange feeling in his stomach that prevented him from saying the intended words, and he didn't knew why, but he couldn't

dwell on that topic in his mind for long as Ron spoke again. "_Harry, I need to know the truth. It's not just for me... what about Ginny Harry.. I need to know this for _

_her too. So __please, Harry, tell me the truth. Is the reason that I abandoned you in the tent and acted like a selfish git, true or not Harry. And don't lie to me!_" Ron

finished in a single breath. Harry's eyes were unfocused as he looked at the sword that lay between them. He couldn't answer this, at least not now. The truth

was that he didn't completely know himself. "_We should head back to the tent, Ron." Harry's voice was calm. "We could discuss this later. I'm freezing, you're _

_freezing, and I __know Hermione's definitely worried sick right now.._." but Harry couldn't finish as Ron snapped angrily at him "_That's why I bloody hell need to hear it _

_now Harry! For her sake, Merlin!" _he bellowed. For the longest time that he was away from them, Ron thought how or when he would come back and finally ask

Harry this question. He was afraid that the girl he loves could never love him back the way he wanted her to because of his best friend... because Ron thought

that she loved his best friend. She indeed loved Harry more than anyone. She even sacrificed her own life, her parents, even Ron himself. She chose him, just

as she always did. No matter what, it was always Harry, and he knew that. But Ron wanted to know if Harry was in love with her too, he needed Harry to tell

him. "_For Merlin's sake Harry!_" he yelled. "_Why can't you __answer me!_? _Just give me the bloody answer-_!" "_Fine!_" Harry bellowed back. "_Yes! I love her! Are you _

_happy now, Ron? I love her...I always have! I was just too stupid not to realize it because of this...his endless wait of getting the chance to be __normal , to be free from _

_Voldemort... but I don't think she loves me in the same way" Harry was getting furious at himself for his own outburst but he couldn't stop himself. " I saw her cry _

_every night, she cried Ron, she bloody cried for you every __single night that you were away! She cried for you to come back, not for me damn it!_" Harry yelled at Ron or

maybe he was yelling at himself or perhaps he was yelling at the forest that suddenly became silent as if to make his words more clear and loud. He was

frustrated with his luck, for everything that had happen for the past few weeks this was probably the worst, at least he thought it to be for now. Ron stared

open-mouthed at him as was shocked at Harry's outburst but he remained still. "It was all so obvious. Harry is in love with Hermione" he thought. "He always

have. He stood by her side like she did for him. He had always listened to her when nobody else was able to make him listen, always prepared to die for her,

fight for her... Saving her from that troll in the first yeat, then in the Department of Mysteries. But hearing it, hearing the truth the revelation from Harry himself

like this was overwhelming for the young boy. But hadn't he expected this? He had wanted Harry to acknowledge it. He couldn't help but feel a bit proud of

himself. Ron, whose maturity, sensitivity, and emotions occupied the range of a teaspoon, was right. Ron Weasely was finally right. But he had also hoped

against hope that maybe Harry would say otherwise. That he would say that he didn't love her, would say that Ron's fears were all for the wrong reasons and

then Ron might had a chance but it was never meant to be... Ron sighed to himself ans sat down more comfortably. The two boys sat there for a long time,

nobody speaking or moving. Harry was cursing himself. His best friend came back and saved him but in return Harry had just told him what he never needed to

hear. Something he never wanted to acknowledge, something he had been internally fighting for the past few months, even when he was sitting in his bed at

Privet Drive and holding the only letters that Hermione sent him. Harry had neglected all those thoughts back then as they needed to be strong and united at

any cost. For the greater good as his former headmaster had once said to him. It was for their the mission and his own thoughts and desires seemed small

compared to that back then. Ron Weasley stirred first, the immense tension in his mind gone somehow. He smiled to himself and then looked into Harry's eyes.

"_Let's go, Harry. You're right, she's prob_ably worried." And with that he stood up, and offered Harry his hand. Harry took it, a bit dazed and shocked by Ron's

reaction, and stood up. Ron picked up the sword. "_I've always been amazed by this sword - never thought I'd get to hold it one day, let alone destroy a Horcrux with _

_it_," Ron said. He looked at the sword carefully and then at Harry. "_Guess this is my lucky day, aye mate_?"

Harry was too stunned to answer. He had thought that Ron would attack him - he was prepared for that, prepared to take the blows with out fighting back. At

the very least he thought Ron would go away again, and Hermione would cry again. He managed to make out a weak "_Yeah._.." "_Let's go, we should tell _

_Hermione the good news... Three down and three to go_!" Ron said, looking ahead. And with those final words, both boys headed back to the tent where the

bushy brown-haired girl was waiting impatiently for their return, for Harry s return.

OK THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS, THIS IS MY FIRST STORY SO THERE WERE MISTAKES WHICH I HAVE CORRECTED. I DIDN'T HAVE ANY IDEA HOW TO MANAGE MY

STORIES IN THIS SITE SO I RUSHED AND UPLOADED. I HAVE CORRECTED MY MISTAKES, THANKS FOR POINTING THOSE OUT. UPDATE WILL BE COMING SOON.

PRATYAY.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Hermione was sitting just outside the tent under a tree. She wore a blanket around her although she was already well protected by an armor of clothes. On

her lap lay the book Dumbledore had given her, The Tales Of Beadle The Bard, but she was not reading. She wasn't even looking at it. Instead she was looking

at the woods in front of her. She was impatient and desperate and indescribably worried. She was worried for Harry.

Harry had been away for an hour now or maybe even more. Time is one thing they didn't have. "_Why is he taking this long_?" she muttered to herself as she sat

there. He had her wand but still there were enemies out there waiting to catch the Boy-Who-Lived and take him to the Dark Lord. To punish him. To torture

him. To kill him... "_No..._" she suddenly yelled at herself as the thoughts came to her. She jerked out of her daydream and stood up abruptly and the book fell

down into the snow. She looked at the book for a moment, and something caught her eye. '_That symbol... it was carved in the grave as well, and in the letter_,' she

thought. '_There must be a connection...Argh.._.' She hated it when she didn't have all the answers. She had been thinking about this for days now, she hadn't

even sleep properly for the past few days. "_That stupid symbol,_" she muttered in anger. "_This stupid book, how can we destroy Voldemort and his Horcruxes by _

_reading this bloody stupid book that should __belong to a child, not a eighteen-year-old witch! and w__hy is Harry taking this long? is he's in trouble? What if he's lost in _

_the forest? He hasn't eaten all day. I should look for him, what was I __thinking? If something happens to him..._" And with that frantic thought she stormed into the

tent to fetch Harry's cloak. She came out quickly, almost at a run but then she stopped. Harry stood in front of her, cold water dripping from his clothes, his hair

messier than usual. She threw herself on him, so relieved to see him unharmed. But why was he in this state? "_Why the bloody hell are you wet? What were you _

_thinking Harry __James Potter!_" she barked angrily. "_Hermione, I-I..._" "_-was taking a nice swim on some lake to catch a severe cold?" she finished for him sarcastically. _

_"What were you thinking you idiot, I was worried sick! What if something bad happened to you? __You were gone for an hour! What were you doing for so long - did you _

_ever think of the fact that I might think that you were leaving me, Harry? Alone like he did?_" she finished in one breath. "_Don't ever do that again, please don't._"

"_Hey 'Mione..._" Harry wanted to say something soothing to her, his heart was melting, but Ron had spoken first. Hermione looked in the direction from where

the voice came. She was resting her head on Harry's shoulders, rubbing his arms, trying to dry him. She met Ron's eyes and took several feet backwards. Ron

was standing a bit far from where Harry was standing. He had a strange look on his face, and Hermione realized that this not not an illusion. Ron was indeed

standing there holding the Godric Gryffindor's sword. Harry and Ron both thought that Hermione was going to run away from them but instead she just stood

there with a look on her face that was a mixture of sadness, shock, relief, and horror. Ron was confused and tried to open his mouth to say something but

nothing came out. '_Why is she just standing there? She should be mad at me, she should be yelling at me, trying to hex me and then hopefully hug me __since I came _

_back for them, for her..._" The thoughts were running through his mind but Hermione just stood there frozen. Harry wanted to ease the tension so broke the

silence. "'_Mione, he came back. We... Ron destroyed the Horcrux._" He showed Hermione the broken locket and threw the locket at her feet, not trusting himself to

go to her. But as he started to take a few steps toward her at that exact moment Hermione fainted and fell to the ground. The last thing she saw was Harry

running toward her. "_Harry..._" was all she could say before blackness blinded her. Ron didn't move, hel stood there looking at her fallen body and Harry

desperately trying to wake her up and then he realized " _I should have never left her, it was all my fault and now she was gone forever_". He sighed and took his

first step towards them.


	3. Chapter 3

Both boys were sitting inside the magical tent as the wind blew harshly outside. It would have been Harry's turn for lookout if the situation was

different but it clearly wasn't although he was hoping for it to change . " Hope is all I have now" he thought What Ron had asked him earlier that day and the

sudden answer he had given was troubling him even more. 'Am I really in love with her?' the thought came as he saw Hermione stir in her sleep .

"You reckon she'll be alright?" Ron's sudden voice startled Harry back to reality. He looked at Ron, who was sitting on the couch still holding the sword again,

then he returned his gaze at her. Hermione's small and fragile body was resting on her bed in front of him. When they had carried Hermione inside the tent,

Harry chose to stay by her side while Ron chose to sit on the couch. She was pale and thin but she looked beautiful. She was breathing slowly but steadily and

she was making soft sounds and Harry almost smiled at her...almost...

"She looks peaceful when she sleeps doesn't she," stated Ron suddenly.

"Yeah, she does. She always does," Harry replied softly.

"We should make her rest more often... You know how she is, always darting around and thinking and reading and lecturing. Or threatening

to hex us," Ron added in amusement. His voice was so sincere that Harry looked at him curiously.

And then they both smiled. It was not their usual riotous laughter, but this was one of the few genuinely happy moments they had shared in

months. They were alright, and Harry was glad to have Ron once again, but he was also scared of how Hermione would react after waking up.

'Things can't be that bad,' he thought.

"So you forgive me?" Ron said after some time as he came and sat beside Harry and Hermione. Harry was again lost in his thoughts he was

staring at the candle in front of him, the flickering

nature of the small flame was a reminder of his own life. "_How easily I can put it out_," he thought. Just like Voldemort can...

"Harry! HARRY!" Ron's sudden yelling made him come to his senses once more. "You look like you've just seen a Death Eater. You don't forgive

me, do you Harry?" Ron said a bit sadly.

"No, it's nothing like that Ron" Harry assured him but the slight tremble in his voice let Ron to think otherwise. Ron looked at him curiously and

suddenly Harry spoke again as if he was speaking to himself.

"I don't think that I was mad at you in the first place. I was just too frustrated of my own shortcomings... you were

right Ron. I didn't have a plan - hell, I still don't know what to do! Dumbledore gave me nothing! I don't-I don't think that I can do this...I

never should have let you guys come, this isn't your war..." Harry's mouth was getting dry and he knew that he was babbling now. "You don't deserve this!

You and Hermione could have been happy together like normal teenagers, if I - if I had left when I should have, or if I had died with Sirius or with Dumbledore!

It would have been over for good! Then Hermione and you could have had the chance to be normal! Sometimes I wonder if... if Voldemort... if I just died..."

_SLAP_!

Harry couldn't finish as his head snapped back from the force of Hermione's hand. As Harry fell to the ground from where he was sitting, Ron jumped to his feet.

"Do you really...do you honestly think...think that we...that I could be happy if you died?" Hermione was awake! she had been for a while now but she didn't

have the courage to face them just yet but she just couldn't take it anymore. The frustration boiling inside was now converted into anger and she was having

difficulty in controlling it. Her breath coming in pants. For the briefest moment she looked as if she would cry. Harry, after recovering from the blow, tried to

reach for her...

_SLAP_!

"BLOODY HELL!" Ron cursed as Hermione's hand came in contact with Harry again.

"YOU SELFISH GIT! YOU...THINK, HOW COULD YOU THINK...AFTER ALL WE'VE BEEN THROUGH, AFTER ALL I'VE BEEN THROUGH - AFTER ALL THE SACRIFICES THAT

I'VE MADE - AND YOU THINK THAT I WOULD BE HAPPY IF YOU JUST DIED... YOU THINK THAT I COULD LIVE IF YOU JUST DIED!"

Hermione was screaming now. Fresh tears were falling down from her eyes and she was quickly wiping them off. She refused to look vulnerable at this moment

as she came nearer to Harry, she failed in her feat.

"AND YOU!" She was now looking at Ron, who was horrified by what he was seeing.

"What? What did I do this time?" he squecked.

"YOU THINK THAT YOU CAN LEAVE US ANY TIME AND THEN COME BACK WHENEVER YOU LIKE? WHAT WERE YOU THINKING, THAT I'D JUST WELCOME YOU? YOU

BLOODY GIT... AND WHAT WERE YOU SAYING TO HARRY? WHERE'S MY WAND? HARRY JAMES POTTER, WHERE IS MY WAND! I SAID GIVE ME MY BLOODY WAND!"

Harry, who had recovered now, quickly went to the other side of the tent for protection. Ron was making strange, fearful noises as Hermione threw anything

that she could find at them including some not so friendly curses.

"BLOODY HELL, WOMAN!" Ron yelled after being hit by a flying book that Hermione had thrown at him. For the briefest moment he thought that

facing Bellatrix would have been a lot easier. At least then he could have fought back.

"HERMIONE, STOP!" This time Harry yelled. Hermione looked at him for a moment and then she launched herself at him, constantly throwing

punches and kicks. Harry finally tackled her to the ground. Both of them were lying on the ground for some time, panting and catching their breath. Ron settled

himself on the couch again but he still kept his eyes on Hermione. He finally found the courage to muster "Are you lot finished?" Both of them got up at the

same time. Hermione without looking at them went to sit on her bed and Harry went to sit beside Ron. They both looked at each other meaningfully, strangely

they were all very calm. Chaos that conspired a few minuets earlier were all forgotten.

* * *

"So what should we do next?" asked Ron.

"I dunno, Ron. We already went to Godric's Hollow and..." Harry looked at Hermione, who was still not looking at him. "And there was nothing

there. The only place left is Hogwarts."

"I don't think that Voldemort hid two of his Horcruxes at Hogwarts," Hermione finally said, her voice was soft. "If we could just find out about

the symbol-" she looked thoughtful.

"What symbol?" asked Ron, clearly curious.

"Ron! The symbol! The symbol..." Harry said excitedly as he looked at Ron, his friend has reminded him. Bill and Fluer's wedding. It was all clear to

him now. He looked at Ron meaningfully.

"Yeah, but what symbol, mate?" But Harry ignored Ron's question and looked to Hermione.

"Mione, give me the book." As Hermione offered him the book, Ron lit up the fallen candle. "Don't you call me 'Mione," Hermione said

halfheartedly while she came and sat beside them. Harry smiled at her.

"And don't smile at me either!"

Harry smirked at her comment, amused.

"DON'T YOU DARE, HARRY JAMES POTTER!" she said loudly, and Harry couldn't hold back the laughter that escaped him..


	4. Chapter 4

Severus Snape looked blankly at the mirror. All the lines that showed on his face made him look old and tired. And he was tired indeed. He

splashed some cold water on his face.

"Isn't that what I am?" he muttered to himself. "Cold?"

He took one last look at his reflection in the mirror before he took off. The Dark Lord didn't like waiting, and he was already late...

* * *

On top of a hill stood the raven-haired boy. A different wand was in his hand, one that his best friend had captured from a fight when he was

attacked right after he left. Ron had shared the story few days back when Harry showed him his broken phoenix wand. Ron told them about the Snatchers.

They where the people hired by lord Voldemort to capture the boy who lived and they were everywhere. Harry wasn't thinking about any of this at the

moment. His hair had gotten long, now touching his shoulders and even messier than usual. He was looking at the forest below where he and Hermione had

been staying for the past few weeks. Then Ron had come back and destroyed Salazar Slytherin's locket and he had admitted to Ron that he was in love

with Hermione.

"I didn't admit anything," he told himself as soon as the thought came. He was frustrated with himself. They had finally figured out the symbol and

where they should head next, they were being normal again but all he could think about was Hermione... and what he had told Ron.

He ran his hand through his hair, messing it up even more if that was possible.

"Harry..." came Hermione's voice. "Harry, we should go now."

"'Mione..." Harry said softly as he turned around to face her. Hermione looked at her best friend, who was staring at her with an odd look on his

face. "D'you remember what you told me that day..."

"Yes," was all Hermione said.

Harry was surprised. 'She remembered!' thought, but Harry wanted to be sure.

"You do know what I'm talking about..." Harry stated rather than asking her.

Hermione nodded and Harry went on. "You told me that we could grow old together, in that place away from all...all the stuff that's happening

around us," Harry finished, not breaking eye contact with her.

"I did..." Hermione's answer was short, and Harry waited to see if she would say more.

"Maybe when all this is over we could... you and I and...and...and Ron could..." she began, but Harry cut her off.

"I don't remember you mentioning Ron before."

"But Ron is our best friend..." Hermione said bluntly and a bit too quickly.

"Yes, but you didn't...say his name then." Harry was looking at the forest again, a bit disappointed.

Hermione was confused now.

"What do you mean, Harry? I..."

"Nothing," Harry interrupted her. "Nothing, 'Mione. I was just thinking..."

"And what was it that you were thinking about?" Hermione folded her arms together and looked at him meaningfully.

Harry didn't know what to say. He thought that he could make Hermione realize... well, something!

"We should go...Ron! Oi, Ron!" Harry quickly began to shout after Ron, who was busy checking their food supply.

"I'm down here, don't shout your lungs out! Blimey! Harry, look, we don't have much to eat, but I reckon that old mad man could lend us

some. He is Luna's father after all."

As both of began discussing their upcoming trip to visit Luna's father (who was confirmed by Ron to have been wearing the symbol), Hermione was

staring into the forest. She was puzzled. When Harry had suddenly left in a hurry to find Ron, Hermione had been looking at his back quizzically.

She had only decided to look at the forest because Harry was looking at it before he said all that to her - perhaps some answer lay in its dark

green depth.

She knew Harry too well, and that's why she was puzzled. 'He seemed to imply...' Her eyes grew wide as the thought came. Her mind spoke

against it: 'Was the locket affecting his mind? No, no it's been destroyed and Harry's too strong for that...the locket didn't harm his judgment

when he wore it, so it can't possibly be that...but what then?'

"Oi, woman! Have you lost your mind lately?" came Ron's teasing voice. "Quit staring at whatever you're staring at and come down here already!"

"You seem to be in a good mood today, you git," Hermione answered in her usual tone as she walked to reach them.

Harry was busy repacking what Ron had unpacked in his little quest about the food supply.

"You were right, Harry!" Hermione's voice made Harry look in her direction as she descended down the sloppy road. "I didn't mention him then."

"What is she saying, mate?" Ron asked a wide-eyed Harry. "Something about You-Know-Who?"

But Harry didn't answer.

They were whispering to each other.

* * *

"I don't think he's inside," said Harry after knocking on the door a few times.

"Maybe he went searching for some mystical creatures that Luna mentioned last term," Ron suggested.

"We should call his name a bit loudly, maybe he's sleeping or doing something important," Hermione said.

"Yeah, like what? It's the middle of the night!" Ron yelled.

"Like reading!" Hermione said loudly.

"Will you two stop bickering for a second!" Harry finally said impatiently.

"Well, she started it," answered Ron stubbornly.

Harry rolled his eyes.

"Shush...I think someone's coming," Hermione told them.

"Who is it?" came a grumpy voice, clearly not pleased. "You'd better be somebody important-" Mr. Lovegood said the last words as he opened

the door. And then his jaw dropped he looked at them for a long moment clearly taken aback and then Xenophilius Lovegood fainted.

* * *

"Mr. Lovegood! Mr. Lovegood!" Hermione was shaking him, and Ron suggested to splash some water on his face (which they did, resulting in Mr.

Lovegood jumping to his feet).

"You! You're Harry Potter! You came!" Mr. Lovegood was frantic. "You must help me, you must help me -" He was almost jumping up and down.

He looked as if he knew he would be having a heart attack in a few moments. Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at each other, clearly concerned.

"Mr. Lovegood, please control yourself, tell us why you need help," offered Harry.

"Please calm down! Here, drink some water," Hermione said.

He finally sat down on the sofa, exhausted after accepting the glass of water from her. He looked pale and extremely weary. Mr Lovegood was calmer than

before but he was still breathing heavily."They got her!" He said desperately. "They took her away! I couldn't do anything, I had to watch them take her away

from me, my Luna-!"

Hermione gasped and took Harry's arm in hers. Although concerned at what he heard, Ron took notice of it and offered to go outside and watch to

see if anyone suspicious was lurking around.

"No, stay here Ron," came Harry's voice.

"Where did they take her? Did they say anything?" Harry asked, concerned. _'It's my bloody fault that Luna was taken- it's because of me, if_

_they torture her or hurt her, I...'-_His frantic thoughts were interrupted by Mr. Lovegood as he suddenly grabbed Harry by his collar.

"They want you, Harry, they want you in exchange for her." he hissed in Harry's ear as Harry tried to shook him of.

"Mr Lovegood I said leave Harry alone, release him at once" Hermione yelled while pointing her wand at the two struggling figures.

"Get off him you overgrown elf"-bellowed Ron he too held his wand. For a brief moment Hermione glared at his comment, but she let it go.

" You must understand I must take him too them or else they will kill her" Mr lovegood was desperate now as he tried to grip harry more

firmly.

" Leave me and I'll go with you I promise" shouted Harry as he body-slammed Mr Lovegood on the ground , but he immediately regretted it as the elder

man lay motionless on the ground.

" Is he dead?"- asked a frightened Ron to a visibly stunned Harry but movement of the man's eye lids after few

moments made Harry release the breath he was holding back. He was suddenly very angry now , not at the man in front of him but with the Dark lord. He was

trying desperately to contain his rising temper. Harry was shaking violently.

" Mr Lovegood listen to me and listen very carefully"- Harry said through greeted teeth. "We'll all go together but before that we need you

to tell us something now"

There was something about Harry that seemed to cool the elder man off, he also looked a lot scared. Then they all noticed it.

Harry was somehow making all the furniture of the house to rise up in air including Hermione and Ron's hair. He felt anger as if there was no other emotion

known to him,or perhaps at the moment it was the only emotion he wanted to feel. Harry had let one of his friends down once again, so he thought.

"Harry! stop it... stop doing that" came Hermione's frantic voice and suddenly everything fell in place with loud crack's.

Harry looked at Ron, Mr lovegood and then at Hermione who was looking at him with concern while the others were still looking at him wide

eyed.

"What?" was Harry's response to their looks. He stepped back a bit from Luna's father, then sat down upon a old wooden chair.

Hermione ignored him for the moment and faced Luna's dad, who had just got up from his slumber " Mr Lovegood as you can see that we are more that willing to go

with you tofind Luna and bring her back, we'd like to ask you something" finished Hermione

"Ron the book, hand me the book, Ron!"- bellowed Hermione as Ron quickly recovered from his state and gave Hermione the book.

"Now Mr Lovegood tell us what you know about this symbol and why are you wearing it proudly even now!" Hermione almost

threatened the elder man. who finally looked at her and then to the certain page in the book where Hermione's finger was pointing.

His eyes immediately narrowed in recognition-" Where did you find this, this symbol and how did you know about it?" asked Mr Lovegood.

"We don't, that's why we're asking you to tell us, we saw you wearing something on my brother's wedding day that had this symbol

drawn on it, and your wearing it now too "-Ron finally joined the interrogation.

All three of them looked at him expectantly, but Xenophilius Lovegood was still looking at the book oddly.

He finally looked at them then fixed his eyes on Harry. Then he whispered to Harry- "That is the symbol of The Deathly Hallows, The Cloak,

The Stone And The All Powerful Wand"

* * *

COME ON GUYS **1,293 Hits** and **608 Visitors** but ONLY 10 REVIEWS!

WE CAN DO BETTER THAN THAT NOW CAN'T WE :)


	5. Chapter 5

_**Once there were three brothers, they were traveling at **_

_**midnight, and reached a river too dangerous to traverse. The three brothers, **_

_**being very powerful wizards, simply created a bridge across the river by waving their wands. They were then stopped by Death himself, **_

_**who was displeased that they had gotten across the river, thus cheating him out of three new victims. but death was then congratulated **_

_**them **_

_**on being clever enough to evade him, and offered each of them a powerful magical item. **_

_**The first brother wished to become invincible in **_

_**duels; Death broke a branch off a nearby tree and created for him the Elder Wand, a wand more powerful than any other in existence. **_

_**The second brother, wished to resurrect his lost love; Death then took a stone from the riverbed and created for him the Resurrection **_

_**Stone, a stone capable of bringing the dead back to the living world. **_

_**The third brother realized the danger of the situation and requested a **_

_**means by which Death could not find him; Death torn down his own cloak and grudgingly gave him , the Cloak of Invisibility, an **_

_**invisibility **_

_**cloak that never lost its power through curses or age. Then day parted their ways as death looked on with an evil grin curled upon his **_

_**black lips.**_

_**The first brother traveled to a wizarding village where he boasted of the Elder Wand in his possession. His throat was sliced in his sleep **_

_**by a wizard hoping to take the Elder Wand for himself **_

_**Then the second brother, who was an arrogant man,traveled back home and used the Resurrection Stone to bring back the woman he **_

_**loved, but was dismayed to find that it was only a pale imitation of her: the dead did not truly belong in the living world. In the end, he **_

_**hanged himself so he could truly join her. Thus death claimed them eventually except the third brother. Death searched for him for ages **_

_**but the third brother was clever , It was only when he had attained great age that the youngest brother finally took off the Cloak of **_

_**Invisibility and gave it to his son.**_

_**Then death finally came as the third brother greeted him as an old friend, and went with him peacefully.**_

Xenophilius Lovegood finally concluded his fascinating story while the three friends looked on dumbfounded.

"_The Elder Wand,_" he said, and he drew a straight vertical line on the parchment.

"The Resurrection Stone." And he added a circle on top of the line.

"The Cloak of Invisibility," he finished, enclosing both line and circle in a triangle, to make the symbol that so intrigued Hermione.

"Together," he said, "behold the Deathly Hallows.

"The three objects - the cloak, the wand and the stone - together make up the Deathly Hallows and one who possesses them becomes The Master of Death ."

Xenophillius finally stopped and looked at them. There was silence. 'The cloak...the stone...the wand...the cloak...the stone...the wand...' Xenophillis Lovegood's

words were ringing in Harry's head over and over again. Hermione was still arguing with Luna's dad. "Your story is absolutely ridiculous," she snapped. "It's

absurd and illogical and...you're lying, aren't you? You're lying! You made up this stupid tale to make us come with you!" Hermione suddenly stood up and

withdrew her wand. "I don't care about you believing it or not, but the Deathly Hallows are as real as the nargles!" Xenophillis snapped back at her. Hermione

wanted to strangle the elder man, she even reached out with her hands but Ron caught her before she could do any damage. "Let me go! Ron, Let me go! I'll

beat the truth out of him if I have to!" Hermione screamed, throwing kicks in the air while Ron pulled her back by her waist. "Hermione! We need him alive,

think about Luna!" Ron's frantic words finally made her come to her senses, but she still looked at Mr. Lovegood like he was a disgusting troll. "Harry! Hey

mate!" Ron's voice was loud and clear but Harry wasn't paying attention to any of the drama that was happening around him.

His eyes were unfocused and he was looking up at the ceiling. The future was showing itself in front of him, a different future. In this future he was standing in

front of Voldemort. He was picturing himself against the Dark Lord. -'The final battle,' he thought to himself. 'Me and Voldemort...The Hallows versus the

Horcruxes...' His last thought slipped from his mouth as a low whisper, but Hermione heard it nonetheless.

"HARRY JAMES POTTER!" she shouted, and Harry was startled to hear her voice for the first time. "Is there any trace of logic left in your tiny head!" she yelled at

him."But Hermione, the Tale of the Three Brothers is-" Ron started to say but he was cut off."Are what? What Ron - real?" She was getting angrier now.

Hermione continued her assault of words towards them, mimicking the voice of Xenophillis the best she could: "_Three brothers...three stupid brothers cheated _

_death! By making a bloody __bridge appear over a river, so Death felt cheated! He was so angry that he came and tricked them by giving them these three stupid objects, _

_the stone and the bloody __wand and the BlOODY CLOAK! Then...then the first two stupid brothers died eventually... because they were BLOODY STUPID! And - and -"_

_"Hermione, that's enough! We get your point! Now let's go!_" Harry bellowed, suddenly feeling quite annoyed towards her.

"You - you can't leave not - not now!" Mr. Lovegood pleaded. "I...I can't let you go. I'm sorry!"

Before anybody knew what was happening, Xenophillis jumped back a few steps and then folded the sleeve of his shirt, the sleeve over his left

arm...

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..." he was almost crying as he continued to utter the same words over and over again.

"You have to believe me...I had no choice! He-he made me...he came himself!"

The Dark Mark was now visible on his inner left arm and then he touched it with the tip of his wand.


	6. Chapter 6

Harry was on his knees, his scar feeling as though it were on fire, but somehow he managed to whisper to them "He's coming! Run!"

'It might be too late thought,' he thought as soon as the words had left his mouth. In his vision he could see Voldemort triumphantly flying toward

a hill, the hill where they had been the other day, and then past the hill...Luna's house was visible now.

"He'll be here any moment now!" he screamed in agony. But Hermione grabbed his shaking hand, and then she called for Ron.

"He's not going to take him...Not now! I won't let him! He can't take Harry, not now or ever," she said to herself as she took Ron by his hand.

Just as he clutched her hand, the roof of the house was blown apart and a demonic, snake-like voice could be heard through the chaos.

"Mine at last...Harry...Potter..."

The pain in Harry's head was unbearable, but he heard Voldemort's words clearly and his heart sank.

"This can't be happening! It's too soon!" came Ron's frightened voice.

"Avada Kedavra!" Voldemort screamed at the top of his voice, and the Killing Curse soared through the air as time seemed to slow. Harry could

clearly see the green light now.

In desperation, Hermione turned as quickly as possible, and with a loud crack they were gone.

* * *

Ginny Weasley watched Neville Longbottom as he blasted Amycus Carrow off his feet. The Death Eater landed with a thud across the corridor.

"Are you alright, Gin?" Neville offered Ginny his hand and he pulled her to her feet.

"What's the meaning of this? What are you up to, Mr. Longbottom," came the voice of the newly appointed headmaster of Hogwarts, Severus

Snape.

"What am I up to! Ask your stupid henchman, he was trying to..."

"Shut your mouth boy," Amycus interrupted him.

"What is going on, Amycus? Did you forget what the Dark Lord said? Unwanted bloodshed is not our goal at this time," said Snape cooly.

"I don't remember the Dark Lord saying that!" replied Amycus Carrow.

"It doesn't matter what you heard, you were always an incompetent fool," sneered Snape.

"Why you half-blooded-!" But Snape's murderous glare stopped him.

"And you two...You'll come with me," Snape said softly to the boy and the girl, a snide smile on his face.

"I'll not let anything happen to you Ginny, I promise," Nevile assured her as they followed the headmaster to his room, where Albus Dumbledore

once sat and very recently Minerva McGonagall.

Nevile and Ginny went inside hand in hand.

* * *

"Did the curse hit him? Hermione! Answer me, did it hit him! That bastard..." Ron Weasly was livid, tears forming in his eyes, but he didn't care. His

best friend was lying on the ground, presumedly dead. Hermione was in a state of shock. Tears were no longer falling down her beautiful face. Her

mind was blank, and she was breathing dangerously slowly as if her whole body refused oxygen, refused anything other than the boy lying in front

of her. She was still holding his hand.

"Harry, wake up!" she suddenly said in a whisper. "Harry, you need to wake up now, we still have a...a lot of..of things to do before...we...we..."

Her mouth was unable to form proper words for a moment until...

"HARRY JAMES POTTER, WAKE UP AT ONCE! YOU JUST CAN'T DIE! WAKE UP! I SAID WAKE UP, RIGHT NOW!" She was screaming now. She felt at a

loss, because she had lost everything. She hadn't been able to Apparate in time, and the curse had hit him... She couldn't save the boy she had

come to love and care for like he was a part of herself... She couldn't save him like she had vowed she would. Ron did nothing to comfort her as he

himself was throwing curse after curse at the trees. Everything was lost, and then...

"Mione...? What happened...? We made it didn't we...?" came the weak voice of the raven haired boy who had just woken up in Hermione's lap.

Hermione looked at him in shock, trembling. Harry thought that she would faint again, but instead she hugged him fiercely.

She hugged him as she continued crying loudly, as loudly as she was screaming a moment ago.

Ron was at a run towards the girl and the boy, overjoyed, but his strides suddenly came to a halt as he saw Hermione break the hug and then kiss

Harry.

I WOULD LOVE SOME REVIEWS OTHERWISE HOW CAL I TELL THAT MY STORY IS BEING LIKED OR DIS-LIKED. MORE THAN 5122 HITS AND ONLY 21 REVIEWS. WE CAN DO BETTER THAN THAT SO COME ON...


	7. Chapter 7

Three of them were sitting inside the magical tent once again. Three days, three excruciatingly long days had elapsed since they escaped from the clutches of Voldemort himself at Luna's house. They were

lucky they had survived... Or did they at all. Harry's thoughts were wandering as he gripped his broken phoenix wand tighter. Two pieces of wood were still holding onto each other by a tiny

shred. "It might just be the only thing in my life that's still not completely broken," he sighed to himself as he sank further into the couch. 'As if it's my fault! She kissed me first and I just...I just kissed back. What was I supposed to do? I thought I

died, then I woke up... alive, obviously, and and then the first thing that I felt was her embrace and then her lips, and I was spoiled by that moment... and I wasn'tthinking. I forgot about Ron...and Ginny..."

Those last lines of thoughts made him feel very guilty. He wanted to talk to them desperately.

Hermione was lying on her bed, pretending to read the advanced spell book that Harry had borrowed from the Black library. She was instead

looking at a picture of them tucked carefully in between the pages. Ron and Harry were waving at her in the picture. A single tear drop fell from her

eye, landing on top of Harry's figure as he retreated from the picture. The Harry in the picture was annoyed with her. Her sniffs grew louder and

the Harry in the magical picture looked at her smiled again to assure her that no harm was done, but she broke down crying. All the emotions, pain

and sorrow that she had carefully held back for days finally came out. The book fell down from her lap to the ground and with it the picture.

Harry and Ron looked at each other, then hurriedly went to Hermione's side. Harry tentatively put his arm around her and so did Ron but she

pushed them away and ran outside the tent.

"You didn't tell her did you?" Ron broke the the silence that had been lingering between them for the past three days.

"Tell her what?" answered Harry, who was still looking at the exit.

"You know what I am talking about!" Ron said, his voice rising slightly.

"Actually, I don't know what you're talking about..." answered Harry stubbornly.

Ron sighed and shook his head.

"You'll have to tell her about how you feel, Harry. You'll have to tell her before this is over or none of this will stop. And we'll never be able

to defeat him... You'll

never be able to defeat him."

"I can't Ron, not now," Harry said calmly as he took a deep breath. He had thought about this long and hard. He even ignored the images of Ginny

and Ron as they flashed in his mind every time he thought about telling Hermione, about how he had come to realize that he loved her. But the

image of Voldemort torturing Hermione, possibly killing her just to make him suffer stopped these thoughts abruptly.

He felt truly helpless. He truly liked Ginny, cared for her immensely...that's why he'd broken up with her in the first place. To keep her safe. He even

thought that he loved her. He did, didn't he...? At least he thought he did. Ginny made him feel that he was normal when he clearly wasn't. She

made him forget about Voldemort and dying and he was happy. He was, after all, Ginny's long awaited prince who would one day vanquish the

Dark Lord, and though it made Harry feel proud he was never sure of himself. He never thought about the future beyond Voldemort.

But Hermione was different. She made him feel that he was just Harry and not the Boy-Who-Lived. In her beautiful brown eyes Harry could always

see himself as the the skinny raven-haired boy who made mistakes, flunked tests, loved Quidditch and was terrible at Potions. She would scold him

for this even as she loved him for it. Everyone wanted him to be the savior, even Dumbledore did, but it was only Hermione who allowed him to

just be himself and not be what everyone expected him to be.

"Is it because you think that she'd say no?"

Harry's thoughts were interrupted by Ron once again.

"That's it...you think that she'll turn you down, that's why your not telling her isn't it?" Ron added as he put on a sweater and handed Harry

one.

"Let's go, mate, we'll both talk to her. She'll not have gone far. Hermione isn't a coward, not like me."

"_Ron, I don't want to tell her. Even if she said yes, I can't...involve her_."

"She already is involved," Ron said, his voice rising once more. "Don't you see, Harry! We're all involved, especially her! She was always in

love

with you. That's why she kissed you, she couldn't hide it anymore, no one can."

"But I'm a dead end, Ron... I'm a bloody dead end! With me she has no future."

"_No, you're not! Why d'you keep saying that? We believe in you and Dumbledore believed in you. Do you think that Dumbledore would _

_lie to all of _

_us, to you...and Hermione believes in you Harry, she does. Before I left you guys I... the Horcrux made me tell Hermione exactly what _

_you're telling _

_me now. I told her that with you her life is a dead end, but she slapped me, Harry! Bloody hard too, I might add! That's why the next day _

_I acted like a git and forced her to choose between me and you. And she chose you. She always has. Now let's go and-"_

"Why are you doing this Ron? What about Ginny?" _Harry was surprised that he had finally said it. Ginny was Ron's sister, his only sister...surely he _

_would be angry if Harry hurt her?_

"I'm doing this for Ginny too! Merlin Harry! don't act like an idiot"

Harry was taken aback by Ron's reaction but he said nothing in return.

"_What about her, Harry? Do you think she wouldn't notice eventually that you love Hermione and not her? Do you think that I'll allow _

_her to make a fool of herself like that? I can't let my sister think that she has a future with you when clearly it's Hermione who resides _

_there,_" Ron finished, exhausted.

"But what about you, Ron? You love her, don't you?"

This time Ron didn't answer so Harry continued. "_I can't take away your happiness Ron, I just can't."_

"_You're not taking away anything Harry - I'm letting it go. She...this was never mine,_" Ron finished as they finally both faced each other for

the first time in days.

"I'm sorry, Ron. I really am sorry," Harry said weakly.

"Don't be," concluded Ron. "Now let's go."


	8. Chapter 8

Hermione's legs finally gave up as she fell to her knees, breathless. She had stopped crying a while ago, but she had still kept running. She had

been running aimlessly through the forest up until now. Her face was emotionless, but in her mind she was still fighting the urge to scream. She

hesitated at first, then she looked back. The long road back was simply too long for her, so she just sat there whispering to herself that all was

lost and everything was her fault until exhaustion finally blinded her and she fell asleep. Hermione Jane Granger had finally reach her breaking

point.

Hermione woke up a few hours later. It was already dark and getting very cold. She needed to warm herself so she reached for her wand, but

she found her magical pouch empty.

She cursed herself in anger and quickly got to her feet. Cold and hunger were getting the better of her, and in frustration she pointed her finger

into the darkness and muttered "Lumos". A bright light emerged from her fingertip, an orb of light that hovered a foot from her hand.

Unsurprisingly, she was quite astonished. This was the first time that she had actually performed wandless magic. She had read about it and

seen Harry perform it in Luna's house but this was her first time. She looked at her finger curiously then pointed it at the darkness again. The orb

of light followed where she pointed. She then took a deep breath and muttered to herself, "I need to find them." Then she ventured towards the

darkness alone.

* * *

"Harry! Harry! Wake up!" Ron's voice came out of nowhere as Harry Potter jerked back to consciousness.

This was the second time this had occurred while they were searching for Hermione. His scar was still burning in pain but he ignored it.

"Yeah, I'm alright now." Harry's voice was weak and Ron noticed it. "You should eat something you know, you can't go on forever like this."

"I can't stop... Hermione's somewhere out there and Merlin knows what condition she's in."

"Don't say that," Ron said sharply. "She's Hermione... she'll be alright."

"She doesn't even have her wand, Ron! Even Dumbledore couldn't save himself when he was wandless, remember? He..." but Harry stopped as

he couldn't utter the last word. "This isn't working, Ron. We have to come up with something else."

"What d'you suggest?" asked Ron, clearly a bit curious and worried. Harry had not been acting well recently; this was the second time that he

had went unconscious and Hermione was nowhere to be found. Ron was feeling useless at the moment.

"A Patronus," said Harry, who was on his feet now. He drew his wand but Ron stopped him.

"There are snatchers everywhere, I thought I told you that!"

"Yeah, I know but we'll have to take the risk or Hermione won't be able to make it." Harry's answer made Ron think for a second, then he took a

few steps back.

"Ok, fine! But let me do this," Ron suggested. Harry was about to argue but Ron cut him off. "They know your Patronus..."

Harry nodded as he accepted this logic.

"Expecto Petronum!" Ron shouted and a Jack Russell Terrier emerged from his wand and quickly disappeared from their sight.

"That should do it," Ron sighed. Then Harry asked Ron, "What did you tell it to do?"

"To find Hermione and tell her to activate her DA coin... she's carrying one and I have mine as well," Ron answered and pulled his coin out of his

pocket.

"Are you insane! We could have just used the coin instead of sending a Patronus!" Harry said.

"No, we couldn't have!" Ron fired back. Harry didn't respond to this as Ron was clearly hesitant to tell him something.

"Ron!" Harry said sharply.

"Fine! When I left you guys," Ron started, "after a few days I used the coin to contact Hermione but it didn't work. After I came back I asked her

about it. And she told me that she jinxed her coin so that none of us can contact each other." When Ron finished none of them spoke for a while.

"Hermione never told me anything." Harry finally broke the silence.

"Yeah, I know mate. She told me not to tell you that I contacted her," Ron answered.

Harry, who was still looking a bit dazed now, looked directly at Ron and asked, "But why... why not tell me?"

"She didn't want you to think that we were together."

"But you were...weren't you?"

Ron looked sad as he answered Harry's question. He was indeed sad, but he still smiled to himself. "No Harry...You see, I did finally told Hermione

how I feel about her before we left the Burrow. Well, before the wedding to be exact. I thought that I might never have another chance. But she

turned me down."

The revelation stunned Harry. "Why?" he asked in a weak voice.

"That's what I asked her, mate. But she never gave me the answer. Well, maybe she did..." Ron added as an afterthought.

Harry was about to say something, but the coin in his hand suddenly heated up and then at that exact moment they heard Hermione's voice. She was screaming.

The boys looked at each other, horrified, then sprinted towards the direction from where the voice came.

* * *

Hermione was running again, but this time she was running for her life as curses and hexes flew past her. She screamed as a curse hit her in the

leg and she fell to the ground with a thud. It happened just after she had finished activating her coin when Ron's Patronus told her to. Loud

cracks of Apparation and voices were the first things to tell her that she was being attacked. Then came the voice of Fenrir Greyback, which made

her ran as fast as she could until the curse had hit her.

"Don't bite her yet," Fenrir commanded as a short man was about to grab Hermione. "I think I know this one," Greyback growled as he saw

Hermione, who was looking at him with disgust. "Now now darling, I have only one question...tell me where I might find your boyfriend."

Hermione was having trouble breathing as Greyback held her by her throat. She was still trying to escape, and with one last desperate attempt

she kicked him in the abdomen and tried to summon one of their wands but a tight slap to her face stopped her struggles. Blood was now coming

out of her nose, which made Greyback smile though he was still rubbing his stomach. He slapped her again. Hermione was crawling now, trying

hard to stay conscious, but Greyback pulled her up by her hair and made her face him.

"Tough one, aren't you?" he sneered. "But, you see, we happen to be tougher than your kind."

"Give me a bloody wand and we'll see about that you coward" Hermione spat, and Greyback smiled darkly.

"So you're not going to tell us anything are you...pity your boyfriend won't be able to find you because there won't be anything left to find."

Hermione closed her eyes, waiting for the severe pain that she was about to endure as Greyback opened his mouth to bite. His fellow Snatchers

were cheering him to do so but the feeling of being torn apart never came as Fenrir Greyback was thrown backward by a curse that made him

scream in pain as he hit a tree head on.

"Don't you ever touch her, you bastard, or I'll kill you!" Harry Potter snarled, standing with his wand drawn and ready to strike.

* * *

Then many things happened at once and happened very fast. Three of the Snatchers attacked Harry at once, throwing curses at him. Harry

ducked the curses and blasted two of them with a quick Reductor Curse and punched the third in the face while he was distracted by the blast.

Ron went after two men who were about to jump Harry from behind. He Stupefy'd the nearest one and hit the next one with a fallen tree branch.

There were six of them, five of which were now unconscious.

Greyback was trying to crawl as his legs were broken, and he fell to his stomach as Harry and Ron both cursed him at the same time.

Harry, blinded by rage, raised his wand to curse him again.

"Harry, stop! You'll kill him..." came Hermione's voice.

Jerked back to reality by her voice, Harry cast Greyback one last, loathsome glare, before He and Ron both hurried towards Hermione and hugged

her.

"Never leave us like that! Promise me that you'll never leave us no matter what," Harry said as he gripped her tighter.

"Yeah, Mione, promise us," Ron whispered.

"I...I promise," Hermione answered finally, smiling as her head was buried in between their shoulders. They were indeed inseparable...nothing,

not even death, could break their bond and Hermione was almost glad that this had happened.

* * *

They both helped her to her feet. "Give me my medical kit," said Hermione. Ron rummaged through Hermione's handbag and then handed her the

kit. She performed a quick healing spell on herself, wandless, before drinking a potion from the bag. "That ought to do it," she said to herself, but

both the boys looked at her, clearly stunned.

"Mione, how did you...?" Ron stammered.

"I...I've brought your wand..." Harry said stupidly.

"Yeah, I just learned how to do it," said Hermione proudly.

"What...? When?" Ron asked.

"You're amazing," Harry said, grinning, but Hermione then looked him in the eyes and Harry's grin melted from his face. Her brown eyes were

piercing and beautiful.

"This comes from a boy who shook an entire house wandlessly," Hermione said sarcastically.

"It wasn't me."

Hermione raised her eyebrow at Harry, clearly not amused by his answer.

"Well, I didn't mean it, so stop staring," said Harry, annoyed.

"Stun him," Hermione said suddenly, pointing her finger at Greyback, who was still shocked at what was happening. Harry raised his wand but

Hermione took it from his hand and said flatly and loudly,

"Stun him without a wand."

"What? Are you mad?" Ron said.

Harry looked at Hermione, still annoyed. "This is not the time to teach me wandless magic, Mione."

"I said stun him without your wand... is English suddenly too difficult for you?" Hermione said.

Harry was indeed annoyed with her but he nevertheless hesitantly pointed his finger at the fallen werewolf who was looking at him wide-eyed.

"Stupefy." But nothing happened. "See I can't -" but he was cut off.

"Stun him and this time mean it you dolt," Hermione said in her bossy tone.

"Fine..." Harry pointed his finger at Greyback again, who had just opened his eyes after closing them when Harry was trying to stun him for the

first time.

"How dare you..." Greyback snarled. "You little brat! I'll kill you and your little friends and -!" but he never got to finish as Harry shouted

"Stupefy!" and a jet of red light emerged from Harry's fingertip and hit him in the face. His eyes remained opened.

"Wow," said Ron. "Great, now I have two best friends who can perform wandless magic."

"Don't worry, Ronald, I'll teach you," assured Hermione. "Now bag them up and tie them to the tree... we have some interrogation to do."

"I always knew that she'd eventually lose it mate, but does it have to be now...?" Ron whispered to Harry, who chuckled.

"Put up the tent here, Ron, and I can still hear you."

Ron gulped and looked at Harry, who simply rolled his eyes.

SORRY THE UPDATE TOOK A WHILE. IN MY DEFENSE I WOULD LIKE TO SAY THAT I WAS BUSY - I FRACTURED MY LEG IN GYM (just one) WHICH IS

NOW ALMOST HEALED.

SO HOW WAS IT? FINALLY SOME ACTION, EH? THERE WILL BE MORE ACTION, THIS IS AFTER ALL NOT JUST A LOVE STORY. I HOPE THAT THIS IS

TURNING OUT TO BE A DECENT DH ALTERNATIVE (finger crossed)

BUT SERIOUSLY GUYS, 8000 HITS AND LESS THAN 30 REVIEWS, I AM DYING HERE...

P.S. I've stopped using bold letters as one of you asked me to.


	9. Chapter 9

"So let me get this straight... you trolls were instructed to capture Harry Potter and get rid of the 'blood traitor' and the 'mudblood'..." Ron said

through gritted teeth, "by a tall man with blond hair and a wretched woman with a bad attitude but not by You-Know-Who..."

Ron folded his hands across his chest and looked up to where Harry and Hermione were sitting, were looking at Greyback with disgust as the

werewolf nodded and spat some blood at Ron's feet. He and his henchmen were still tied to a tree and with the exception of Greyback they were

still unconscious.

"Can you brew some Veritaserum?" Ron asked Hermione purposely. "I don't trust him," he added as Hermione looked at him with a disapproving

expression on her face.

"He's telling the truth Ron, I saw him!" Harry injected causing Ron, Hermione and Fenrir to look at him curiously.

"What do you mean you saw him?" came Ron's voice as he came across the big rock where Harry and Hermione were sitting.

"Muffliato!" Harry said softly and motioned for Ron to come up and sit beside them, which Ron promptly obeyed. It was like that every time they

talked

or were to talk about Voldermort - one of them always remembered to cast the spell around themselves after Ron had informed them about the

Dark Lord's name being tabooed. Ron's famous words back then "We can never be too careful" were their motto for the time being.

"I saw him...er, Voldemort," Harry hissed.

"Again? In your dreams?" Hermione whispered in surprise.

"Why are you whispering? it makes no sense to me" Ron said a bit loudly, clearly amused by their antics.

"Yeah.. right!" Harry acknowledged, then looked at Hermione, who wasn't paying any attention to Ron's remark at the moment, but was instead

looking at him with utmost interest. "When we were searching for you..." Harry began, "I sort of fainted a couple of times...and each time I saw

him...Voldemort. He was flying outside Britain, I could tell, I mean I sort of knew and... He was searching for this wand maker..."

"And?" Hermione insisted as Harry hesitated.

"And then I saw him killing...an entire muggle family to... to find him. Then he was torturing him...Greg...ori..vich.."

"Gregorovich!" Ron injected, surprised, and Harry looked at him.

"How d'you -?"

"He's a famous wand maker from Germany, but he retired ages ago..."

"That's right! Krum said his wand was made by him..." Ron spat the last few words, displeased with himself that he took the Bulgarian's name

aloud.

"A wand maker... Harry he's trying to get another wand for himself! To break the bond... the Priori Incantatem!" Hermione gasped at the

realization, but Harry shook his head in disapproval.

"He doesn't need another wand to break the bond, Mione, he already has a different wand... I saw his hand in Luna's house... it was the only

thing that I could focus on at that time and he wasn't holding his phoenix wand...it was a different one. The Priori Incantatem is already broken."

"Then what's he searching for?" Ron asked in a weak voice.

"He's searching for the Elder wand. My wand somehow was still stronger than his...he doesn't need to beat me," Harry said looking at his friends.

"He needs to beat my wand... I get it now."

Harry withdrew his phoenix wand from his pocket. "It was you, wasn't it? You saved me...all those times. And I thought for the briefest of moments

that I-"

"Don't even think like that! Harry, a wand is only as good as his master! It merely channels the wizard's power...It can't amplify it!" Hermione

insisted, trying her best to reason with him.

"Then tell me why he's searching for the Elder wand! If you were right, any ordinary wand would work...he's not an idiot! He knows that he only

needs to beat my wand, not me! Come on, Hermione, how else can you explain this? Surviving In the grave yard, or when we were trying to

escape from privet drive...it was always the same reason... I didn't even know what spell the wand used to cast those golden flames that saved

us! I didn't do it! I'm nothing."

The three of them were silenced for the moment, then Hermione moved in front of Harry and kneeled in front of him. Harry's chin was resting on his

chest, and Hermione lifted it to look into to his eyes. "Harry Potter..." she said in a gentle and warm voice, and Harry opened his eyes and looked

at her.

"Listen to me...You beat him all those times because you were stronger...because you cared. You wanted to win to survive...to see us again. Magic

flowers through all of us in the the same manner, irrespective of age or blood status...It's just will power that drives a man to do extraordinary

things. Wizards like Dumbledore, Godric Gryffindor - even Voldemort - were great not because they had more magical power in them than everyone

else or because they read a lot of books. It was simply because they wanted to be. And you...you're doing this, this whole thing just to become

normal again, to love and to be loved. You don't want to be great or famous, you just want to be alive. That... that's what makes you all the more

powerful, Harry."

Harry smiled at Hermione wearily and Ron put a hand to his shoulder. Harry sighed and got to his feet.

"Thanks, Hermione, but if Voldemort finds the wand all that luck or whatever the bloody hell is going in my favor will come to an end and -"

"He didn't find it? What about Gregorovich...?" Ron asked.

"No, before he...tortured him and killed him he viewed his memory. There was a young man with golden hair...he stole the wand from him. It

seemed to happen a long time ago... The weird thing is, I think I've seen the man somewhere but I can't remember...Voldemort's after HIM now."

Harry was becoming frustrated. If the tale of the wand was true then so were the Deathly Hallows. Why else would Dumbledore give them the

book, or write the letter with the symbol. The cloak, the stone, and the wand...there had to be a connection.

"We should go to the Malfoys. I bet they have Luna there," Ron said. "Plus, You-Know-Who isn't there so he won't be able to sense Harry's

presence. Harry's cloak will protect us... you know... it would help us...to...to be hidden...Why are you guys looking at me like that, you're freaking

me out!"

But Harry and Hermione now looked at each other, bewildered, then they both ran inside the tent. Ron just stood there dumbfounded until they

both came outside with Harry's invisibility cloak.

"Whoa! When I said we should go I didn't mean right now! We should make a plan first..." But he was cut off.

"Don't you see, Ron?" Harry's voice was full of excitement, and he was shaking with revelation. Ron's earlier words were magical as both Harry and

Hermione realized in an instant what they were missing. Harry and Hermione both held the cloak partially in their hands.

"Don't you see, Ron?" This time it was Hermione who was shaking. "This cloak, Harry's invisibility cloak, is one of the Deathly Hallows!"

Ron looked at them, and then at the cloak with wide all made sense now, he walked slowly towards them

taking one step at a time.


	10. Chapter 10

"Ron! Stun him already!" Hermione said.

"How the bloody hell can I if I can't see him! You're asking too much of me!"

"I'm right here, Ron...see!" Harry poked his head outside of his cloak for a moment.

"He vanished again!" Ron complained.

Hermione let out a huff of annoyance. "You dolt! Why can't you just cast a spell where his head was a minute ago?"

"What if it back-fires? What if I die!"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "It's just a stunning spell, Ronald..."

"Oh yeah..but that's a Hallow he's wearing! It could do something else!"

"Fine!" Hermione growled. "Stupefy!"

The jet of red light soared through the air just to be deflected by the invisible barrier that was Harry himself, changing its direction as it rebounded

and hit Ron Weasley right on his face. He fell to the ground, speechless. Harry and Hermione at first just stood still, looking at Ron with concern,

but then they both fell to the ground roaring with laughter.

"Well, that proves its existence," Hermione said, attempting to become serious. "We'll have to see how much more it can take though."

"Yeah, and luckily we have just the people for the job..." Harry looked at Ron again who was cursing them with his open eyes, fully aware of what

was going on.

"What should we do with him?" Harry asked Hermione with mock concern.

"Leave him... it'll help put some sense into his supposed brain," Hermione replied with a giggle. She got to her feet and then motioned Harry to

come with her as a horrified Ron looked on. His two best friends looked at him at first with snide smiles on their faces then left without a word.

"Don't leave me...please...for Merlin's sake! Come back...come back...you back-stabbing, good-for-nothing... I said come back!" It was all in Ron's

mind but Harry and Hermione guessed it nevertheless.

They were at it for a good ten minutes, trying every spell they could think of (avoiding the Unforgivables of course). Each time the spells were

deflected by the cloak and each time one of Fenrir's men including Greyback himself squealed in fear. They didn't have any idea of what was

happening. The only thing they could see was a spell coming their way and then every time they closed their eyes it vanished. Ultimately one of

them broke down and started crying, and that's when Harry and Hermione stopped. Harry then silenced him and the others with a full body bind.

They were still tied to a tree side by side. Harry and Hermione had thrown the cloak over them carefully when they were unconscious. They sat

upon the rock again as Ron finally joined them, clearly not at all pleased. Harry looked at him as if nothing had happened.

"Bloody git!" Ron said, and Harry grinned.

"How will we get in? There will be guards, I'm sure of it. What d'you suggest Mione?" Harry was again speaking with a low voice even though he

had cast the Muffliato charm.

"Well, Voldemort is evil and all but he's intelligent... so yes, there will definitely be Death Eaters lurking around."

"Evil! Funny you should say that since I bet even he isn't as evil as you!" Ron snarled.

"Oh, come off it! It was only for fifteen minutes and you're perfectly fine," Harry said with hint of humor in his voice, causing Hermione to giggle.

"You loved it didn't you? You evil, mad woman! No wonder an idea like S.P.E.W would occur to you out of the blue!" Ron said, and he immediately

regretted it as Hermione jumped to her feet to strangle him, but Harry quickly caught her and pulled her back.

"Great!" Ron exclaimed and threw his hands in air. "Now I'm the bad guy! Guess you'd really be happier being with a stupid elf...Oh! What I am

thinking!" Ron added with mock surprise as he looked at them. "Eventually you'll really will be with a stupid elf because, guess what Harry, you're a

bloody stupid elf!" Ron finished his onslaught and pretended to look elsewhere though he closed his. When he opened them a minute later due

the lack of response he saw Harry and Hermione sitting with the most awkward expressions on their faces.

For the briefest moment Ron smiled but he quickly recovered. "Don't act like gits, even a blind man could see it..." Ron said, quite pleased with

himself, but he let it go as his friends really looked uncomfortable.

"Give me the cloak," he suddenly said. "There's still a lot of spells we haven't checked. We can never be too careful." Ron took the cloak from

Hermione and left. He wanted to leave them alone. "I did the right thing," he thought.

"Fenrir! Oi troll...Want to play with me this time? Come on, be a sport!"

Fenrir Greyback was horrified as it was about to begin again but he could do nothing about it. Harry and Hermione just sat there.

"We need a plan," Hermione finally whispered halfheartedly.

"I have one... but you won't like it one bit," Harry replied as they finally looked at each other. "Let's find Ron and tell him to stop, we need them

conscious."

Then they both stood quietly and left the spot where they were sitting.

NOPE... NOT NOW, IT'S TOO SOON BUT YOU'LL NEVER KNOW WHEN IT'LL HAPPEN.

SO GUESS WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT. WHAT WILL THEY DO AND HOW WILL THEY RESCUE LUNA? OK, SO I UPLOADED TWO CHAPTERS AND I

DEMAND REVIEWS FOR EACH! PRETTY PLEASE (WITH VANILLA ICE-CREAM ON TOP!) :]


	11. Chapter 11

Harry Potter sighed inwardly as he finished describing his plan to his friends and looked at Hermione expectantly. He thought that Hermione would disapprove, but instead he was surprised

when she suddenly stood up.

"I...better start making preparations then. It'll take an hour to brew Polyjuice Potion," she said and promptly went inside the tent.

Harry and Ron looked at each other curiously.

"You reckon she's...alright?" Ron said, sounding a bit concerned.

"Dunno," Harry replied gloomily.

"Are you sure there's no other way, mate...It's a bit too wicked..." Ron tried to smile but failed.

"I...guess so," Harry answered. "Otherwise she would have said something," he added.

Harry thought about his plan again. He usually just rushed into a situation head on. Instead, he had come up with a plan, and a well thought out plan at that - even Hermione was

convinced.

"This is for Luna..." he said to himself. The winter breeze was slowly beginning to wear off, signifying that it was time to change - and in one way or another everything was about to.

"We need hair!" Ron's sudden deceleration startled Harry for a moment and he looked at Ron a bit confused.

"For the potion..." Ron jerked his head sideways to where Greyback and his men were. Harry nodded and stood up, but as he was about to withdraw his wand, Ron stopped him.

"Let's do it wandless," he said with a cheeky grin.

"Fine!" Harry said, annoyed with his red haired friend, but as he was about to move towards the captured men he was stopped again.

"You don't have to... I'll do it," Ron told him with the same expression on his face.

"Ron..." Harry started. "You don't know wandless magic...and I...I can't teach you how. I don't know how to -" but Harry was cut off halfway through his explanation.

"That's the idea, my friend, I don't know how to do wandless magic... but that doesn't mean that I can't do it wandless," Ron finished, looking pleased with himself. He looked confidently at

Harry but when he saw his confused look Ron sighed loudly.

"Watch me," he declared and went towards Greyback and his men, flexing his fingers.

"This ought to be interesting..." Harry whispered to himself and he quickly followed.

A loud scream followed by Ron's jubilant voice made Hermione to jump in surprise, consequently causing her to drop the vile of potion that she was holding at that time. She looked at the

spilled ingredients, horrified. She did have more ingredients left, but the incident still made her furious.

"What the bloody hell?" she cursed, and stormed out of the tent.

Hermione's view was blocked by the large rock that stood a couple of yards in front of the tent, and as she got around it to have a look at what was happening she was greeted with the

bizarre scene of Ronald Weasley, one foot resting on Greyback's chest, pulling the werewolf's hair with all his strength. Fenrir was cursing and screaming at the top of his voice.

Hermione was shocked beyond words and just stood there looking at the scene open-mouthed. She then saw Harry, who was clearly enjoying the show with a smirk on his face. Hermione

slowly came beside Harry and nudged him. Harry looked at her and his smirk vanished.

"What in the name of Merlin are you up to?" she whispered in a neutral tone, which surprised Harry.

"Wha - you're not mad at us?" he blurted out and then immediately cursed himself for his stupidity while looking away.

"He said something bad about us...about me, that's what this is all about isn't it?" Hermione asked, crossing her arms as she gazed at the struggling figures.

Harry looked at her for a moment, slowly digesting the situation. "She thinks Ron's doing this for her," he mused silently, relaxing a bit. He then whispered to her, "Yeah - yeah, that's

what it is. He said some bad stuff...Are you finished already, we need to hurry- let's go inside, you don't have to look at this." Harry grabbed Hermione's arm and almost pulled her from

her stance, but when they were about to go inside the tent the most unwelcoming voice to him at that time called his name.

They both turned at once. Ronald Weasley was lying on the ground, clearly due to a fall from his earlier struggles, but he quickly jumped to his feet and with his fist full of grey hair

triumphantly announced: "Harry, mate, look!" Ron showed his fist and then added, "Told you I could do it wandless...it's your turn!"

He grinned at Harry, who in return sighed and lowered his head in defeat. Ron, now confused at Harry's reaction, came in a bit closer and with his few steps towards Harry, Hermione's

figure came in view from just behind the rock.

Ron's grin faded.

"Mione I...I can explain, you see..." started Harry in their defense but Hermione cut him off by turning towards him and pointing her finger at his face.

"Y...You...!" she yelled then turned towards Ron. "And you! I...Ahhh!" She stamped the ground loudly with her left foot and then stormed inside the tent without saying anything else.

Harry looked at the departing figure going inside the tent then slowly came beside Ron, who was still looking at the tent puzzled. "I tried," he said and Ron looked at him with a frown.

"You forgot to cast the spell? I thought I told you!" Ron bellowed.

"Well, it can't be helped now," Harry answered halfheartedly. He looked at the tent thoughtfully then added, "She'll come around."

They both looked at each other and then they both smiled at the same time.

"Come on, it's my turn now!" Harry said with excitement and they both ventured towards Greyback and his men again.

"And this time don't forget to cast the spell you git..."

"Fine...Muffliato!" Harry said, and with it everything fell silent.

* * *

Nine hooded figures appeared in front of a large metal gate. Darkness surrounded them, and one of them uttered "Lumos," causing a bright light to emerge from the tip of his wand. Three of the figures looked at each other for a few moments, then

the tall and lanky one stepped forward, biting his lip as he looked at the gate. Then he hesitantly touched it with the tip of his wand, and the gate creaked open.

They walked silently towards the handsome manor that came in view. The manor was surrounded by elaborate gardens, including a fountain and roving albino peacocks. Although it was dark, they saw it clearly in the dim moonlight.

"Can we just stun them here? I don't think that I can hold them much longer," the short man whispered pleadingly. His sudden outburst startled the long, grey-haired man who stood in front of him holding the brightly illuminated wand. He looked

back at the trembling man wide-eyed. "I can't...the spell...I -" the short man suddenly fell to his knees and at that exact moment the two hooded figures adjacent to him shrugged, then one of them took down his hood to reveal the face of a girl with

brown hair.

"Imperio!" came the voice of the tall and lanky man standing at the end of the line.

He saw what was happening in front of him and had quickly drawn his wand as the curse hit the girl and the other man who was about to shout. He breathed heavily.

He came forward and lent his hand to the fallen man who took it. "Thanks, Mione...I'm sorry I couldn't..." he said.

"It's ok, Ron, I know what it feels like," the tall man answered.

Harry, who was standing ahead of everyone disguised as Greyback, came beside the girl who was now rigid again, and he put the hood back on her face. "It's fine Ron, nobody saw us, we're fine..." Harry assured him, then motioned them to follow

him once again.

Dobby once told him about this place in his second year when he was still slave of the Malfoys, and he had to recall every bit of it. It was essential for their plan. The Polyjuice Potion had worked - he was now Greyback, Hermione was Stamper (the

tall man), and Ron was disguised as the short man named Skibbit. They had used an unforgivable to control the others, but they hadn't had any other choice - they couldn't have left anyone behind. It would've been too suspicious and there was a

possibility they could have escaped afterward to warn their masters.

They were all sweating in the cold breeze.

"Who goes there, show yourselves!"

The group were stopped in their tracks by another voice that came from a distance in front of them. Ron gulped and Hermione bit her lips.

"I said who is it..." the voice came again, this time from nearby. A tall figure came into view. Vincent Crabbe was standing in front of the main doorway, his wand in hand, and he was soon joined by three other men, one of whom Hermione recognized

as Dolohov.

Harry suddenly felt anger rise in him as he too recognized him, but he controlled it and said nothing.

"Ahh, Fenrir, good to see you. You have news I presume? Otherwise you're not welcome, and you can take your henchmen and leave," Dolohov said, looking at Harry.

Hermione noticed Harry's hesitancy, and she came forward and took the hood off of the fake Hermione. Dolohov came closer to the fake Hermione and lifted her chin before he turned and smiled evilly at Harry.

"And the boy...?" he demanded.

Harry slowly took the hood off one of the men to reveal...himself. The fake Harry, who in reality was Greyback, looked at Dolohov with an expressionless face.

"The Boy Who Lived." Dolohov's voice was calm but his eyes were blood-thirsty. He looked at the fake Harry for a long moment.

"Take them inside, now," he commanded, then looked the real Hermione in the eye. "The Dark Lord will be pleased with your service" he hissed.

Hermione was shaking to her bones, but she revealed nothing, instead managing to smile at him. "I live to serve the Dark Lord..." she said in return, and proceeded to follow the others into the Malfoy Manor. The door shut heavily behind her.

"There is no return then..." she said to herself.

Harry turned to look at her, and their eyes met.

"It's time," they told each other silently, then quickly drew their real wands. Hermione turned briskly and faced Dolohov, who stepped back in surprise at her sudden movement. But as he was about to question her actions, Hermione shouted

"Petrificus Totalus!" and Dolohov fell to the ground, speechless.

SORRY TOOK A WHILE. YOUR NOT ANGRY?..RIGHT...

KEEP THE REVIEWS COMING. :)


	12. Chapter 12

It was pure chaos inside the Malfoy Manor. At the time nobody could understand what was going on except for the three individuals who were casting spell after spell at the Death Eaters.

In other words, Harry's plan was working exceptionally well.

When Hermione had cast the full body bind at Dolohov, Harry cast a Reducto at the three Death Eaters in front of him, including Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. They landed with a thud across the large sitting room. Ron had stunned the

already Imperiused werewolf which confused the incoming Death Eaters even more - they didn't know who their enemy was until they were cursed themselves.

Harry motioned Hermione to ward the door from inside as he and Ron were fighting the last few remaining servants of the Dark Lord. The Malfoy Manor was cut off from the outside world indefinitely. They now moved upstairs to the drawing room,

which had purple walls and a large chandelier hanging from the ceiling above. Harry looked carefully at every detail of the room- according to Dobby, the prisoners were held in a secret room below the drawing room and they needed to find the

entrance to it. Suddenly he saw movement behind the curtains a few feet in front of him.

"Come out! " he barked at the person hiding behind the curtain. To Harry's surprise, Lucius Malfoy came from behind it, his wandless hands raised in surrender.

"Please...why are you doing this? If the Dark Lord finds out..." Lucius looked fearful as he stared at the large figure of Greyback in front of him, who looked at him with disgust.

"Because I want to..." Harry hissed at him, but as he was about to interrogate the senior Malfoy, Bellatrix Lestrange, along with Draco Malfoy and two other Death Eaters, emerged from the opposite doorway.

"What do you think you're doing you bastard...how dare you!" Bellatrix screamed in her sadistic voice.

Harry quickly punched Lucius in the stomach and then pointed his wand at them - he had been afraid of this but he had no choice.

"Answer me...how dare you disobey the Dark Lord's orders! He was far too merciful when you came to him pleading to become one of us...but I'm not. I'll enjoy torturing and killing you..." she screamed again at Harry who couldn't take it anymore.

"Tell your beloved Master when you see him that Harry Potter will defeat him...tell Tom Riddle that I will destroy him once and for all!" Harry hissed through gritted teeth, which surprised all of them - including Hermione and Ron, who themselves

were terrified at the scene unfolding before them.

"It's Potter! It's Harry Potter!" Draco suddenly shouted in both recognition and astonishment. Bellatrix looked at him for a moment, realizing the situation, and then pointed her wand at Harry.

"Crucio!" she roared.

Harry rolled out of the way and the spell hit the struggling Lucius Malfoy, who fell to the ground screaming in pain. Two of the Death Eaters then charged at Harry at once, but Hermione and Ron intercepted them.

Bellatrix lifted the curse from Malfoy, then ordered Draco to go to the prisoner's cell.

As Harry's eyes followed the departing blond, Bellatrix shouted once more.

"Shut your filthy mouth! You dare speak his name with your unworthy lips, you dare besmirch it with your half-blood's tongue, you dare-!" she exploded in anger while casting deathly spells at Harry, who was now ironically turning back to his own

physical self. He dodged few of them then blocked the last one.

"Yes, I dare...he's no more than a half-blood himself, but unlike him I choose to be proud of it. He's nothing more than a lying coward! Tell me, Bella, how do you like the half-blood now?" Harry yelled back, casting his own set of spells.

Lucius was recovering by this point. He wanted nothing more than to get out of this place, but instead of fleeing he chose to jump Harry from behind. Harry, who not expecting this, fell as the sudden weight of a full grown man was too much for

him. As he fell, his wand slipped out of his hand but he managed to punch Malfoy across his face and get out of his predicament. But he was too late.

"Crucio!"

The curse him on his chest and his entire body exploded in agony. Bellatrix was laughing hysterically at the fallen, writhing boy. Hermione in desperation blasted her enemy as she saw Harry being tortured by Bellatrix, and without thinking for the

first time in her life she jumped in between Harry and Bellatrix. The curse hit her in the face.

Harry's world was blurry, his senses weak, but even in this state he heard Hermione's frantic scream, followed closely by Ron's, and after a while he forced himself to focus. He raised his wandless hand, still shaking from the effect of the Cruciatus

Curse, and the same set of golden flames exploded from his fingertips. A stunned Bellatrix was forced out of her stance as she went flying out of the window behind her, the shattering of the glass followed by a sickening thud.

Harry crawled towards Hermione's unmoving body. Blood was pouring from her mouth and nose...even her eyes were bleeding. Ron came beside them as well.

"She was exposed for too long...we need to take her with us we...we don't have much time. Mione...come on, Mione," Ron's frantic voice didn't reach Harry, who was looking at her horrified...

"Harry...Harry, we need to go now!" Ron jerked Harry's arm, who in reply looked at him with lifeless green eyes, though he was thinking furiously inside. They needed to take Hermione out of here, maybe to the Order, but he didn't know where

Lupin and the others were. He cursed himself for not knowing what to do. They couldn't Apparate as there were anti-Apparation wards over the Manor. Only elfish magic could do that, Harry realized.

"Dobby!" Harry shouted at the top of his voice and the small elf appeared from nowhere.

"Harry Potter sir called Dobby and Dobby has come!"

But Harry didn't let him speak further as he grabbed the little elf. "Dobby, listen to me...you need to take Hermione someplace safe where she can...can be treated," he said breathlessly.

"But Harry Potter is injured too...Dobby needs to help Harry Potter!" the elf pleaded to Harry.

"You can come back for us...we need to stay here for a while. Listen Dobby, please, take Hermione anywhere she can be treated, then you can come back and we''ll go with you."

Dobby seemed to hesitate for a moment, but then he took Hermione's hand and vanished. Harry grabbed his wand, relieved, and motioned Ron to follow him.

They found a stairwell in the middle of the next room where Draco had gone earlier. They ventured into the darkness with their wands raised. As they reached the bottom of the staircase, a metal door stood before them. It was unlocked, and voices

were comming from inside. Harry went inside the cell first.

"Harry! Draco was right, it is you!" Luna Lovegood came running towards Harry and hugged him tightly, then she hugged Ron.

"Are you alright?" Harry asked. But before Luna could answer he saw Draco standing in the darkness. Harry quickly pointed his wand at him and shouted "Expelliarmus!"

Draco's wand went flying towards Harry, who caught it. Ron saw Draco at that moment as well and he lunged at him, throwing punches as they both fell to the ground with Ron sitting on top of the young Malfoy. Blood appeared on Draco's face as

Ron continued to beat him, but he did nothing to stop the onslaught.

"Stop Ronald, stop! He saved me! He saved all of us!" Luna pulled Ron from Draco.

"What do you mean he saved you?" Ron demanded angrily, confused with Luna's actions.

"She's right, mate...he did save us." Dean Thomas appeared out of the darkness with a goblin and an old man at his side. .They were pale and their cloths were dirty, but for the most part they seemed unharmed. Both Harry and Ron looked at the

figures in surprise.

"What are you talking about?" Ron said again, but this time the anger was gone from his voice as he recognized the old man as Ollivander, the wand maker. Harry wanted to ask the same question, but then Dobby appeared in front of them.

"Dobby has come back for Harry Potter!" he announced. Footsteps could be heard from upstairs now - the Death Eaters were regrouping.

Harry frantically told Dobby to take them to where Hermione was, two at a time. Dobby hesitantly followed the orders given to him. After several minutes only Harry and Ron stood inside the cell - Dobby had just Apparated Griphook the goblin and

Dean. "Ron, we need to get out - I don't think that we can wait for Dobby. We need..." Harry started, but a raspy voice stopped him.

"Turn around slowly," it said.

They both turned and saw the familiar form of Peter Pettigrew.

"You little rat...!" Ron snorted and was about to jump at him but Harry pulled him back and faced his father's former best friend.

"This is how you repay your friends after all they did for you?" Harry said quietly. "James, Sirius...this is how you pay them back? I guess I shouldn't be surprised...after all it was you who sold them out. My family trusted you with their lives...and

you -"

"Stop! I...you know nothing! I had no choice, he would have killed me..I didn't want to hurt James or Lily...they were my best friends... He forced me...I was afraid of dying..." Petter said in one breath. His voice was weak and he was almost in

tears. Both Harry and Ron stood there dumbfounded before Harry moved forward.

"Don't come near me..." Pettigrew said fearfully.

"Then do the right thing - let us go," Harry told the elder man calmly.

Peter looked at him for a moment... then he stepped aside.

"You are like your father..." he said, then vanished in the darkness of the cell. Harry and Ron came up to the drawing room with their wands held aloft. They were now over the effect of the Polyjuice Potion.

Then suddenly several Death Eaters came inside the large room at once.

"There's too many!" Ron shouted while simultaneously defending himself.

"Ron, the window!" Harry shouted back, and they both ran towards the broken window. Curses flew past them from everywhere.

"Call the Dark Lord!" somebody shouted as they jumped through the window and as they were about to hit the ground Dobby appeared once more beside them and apparated them away.

When the familiar sensation of Apparition ended Harry found himself on a sandy beach overlooking a beautiful villa standing on a small hilltop. He looked at the others to see that they were alright then sat on the beach, unable to stand anymore.

"It's Bill and Fleur's," Ron said in astonishment.

"Dobby thinks it's best for Herminny so he took her here..." Dobby told Harry, who looked at him a bit dazed from the earlier incidents.

"Y..you did good, Dobby..." but he couldn't finish as his vision went blurry and he fainted.

In his dream, Voldemort was flying once more. At a distance Harry could see a towering building, jet black and forbidding. The fortress seemed to be set on an island in the middle of a stormy sea. Harry recognized it from one of his text books... it

was Nurmengard. The black fortress was made by a certain dark wizard but Harry couldn't remember his name. He entered the prison without any interference. He was inside a prison cell now and an old wizard with white hair was looking at him.

"Finally we meet... you have made quite a name for yourself... the story had even reached here... the great Lord Voldemort. I was waiting for you..." the old man smiled at him not with fear, nor with pleasure, but his look was piercing.

"Tell me where is it. I know you took it." Harry was torturing him now, his voice snake-like and cold. He wanted to stop but he couldn't.

The old man was now gasping for air but he didn't plead.

"Tell me and I'll kill you mercifully..."

At this the old man laughed, which somehow made Harry furious. "You still don't understand, do you? It is not found, it is earned. And you are not worthy. It was once mine, I know... but I don't have it anymore," he told Voldemort fearlessly, then

added, "You have a lot to learn, Tom Riddle..."

Voldemort grabbed the man by his collar and pulled his face near his own. "Tell me where it is. Tell me who took it," he hissed.

"It lies with him, of course... the one you feared...he defeated me...it rests with him."

"Avada Kedavra!" and as the green light soared towards the old wizard Harry sat up in his bed, sweating.

"He found it...he found the wand," he shouted out as Fleur, who was nursing him, jumped suddenly in surprise and dropped the Gryffindor Sword that she had found in Harry's magical pouch. The sound echoed through the entire house and

everybody jerked awake. It was the middle of the night, three days from when they had arrived at the cottage.

NICE ACTION EH? BUT ON A SERIOUS NOTE I HOPE THAT YOU HAVE LIKED MY IDEA. SO HOW WAS IT?


	13. Chapter 13

Hermione sat up in her bed, wide awake as the sound of the sword touching the ground startled her. She had slept little in the past few days as she was still struggling from the effect of the curse and it was showing on her face. She tried to stand up

but trembled and was about to fall when Luna caught her. "Are you alright?" Luna said in a polite tone. "I'm fine, Luna... just a bit tired. And I think Harry's awake," Hermione breathed out as Luna helped her sit in an arm chair and offered her a glass

of water. "Thanks, Luna...for taking care of me for the past two days," Hermione said gently and Luna smiled dreamily at her. "Rest for a few minutes and then we'll go see Harry together," she said then sat beside Hermione.

"Fleur! Listen to me, is she ok! Is Hermione alright...Fleur!" Harry was shouting but the woman in front of him wasn't saying anything; she was just looking at him in stunned silence and perhaps a little fear. "Merlin! Fleur!" Harry snapped which

finally made Fleur Weasely realize that she was being asked about Hermione's well being. She nodded in affirmative and came close to Harry to have a better look at him. She reached for Harry's forehead with her right hand and Harry stiffened a bit.

As she touched his scar Harry was made to notice for the first time that the mark was burning in pain. Harry jerked his head, trying to shake off the sensation and thankfully it worked. He then reached for his glasses. Fleur took a few steps back then

looked at the Gryffindor sword, which she bent to pick up but Harry was on to it first.

"Where's Draco... I need to talk with him," Harry retorted as he grabbed the fallen sword and looked at Fleur meaningfully, who was still looking at him strangely.

"Bill ez's awake!...Arry's awake!" The young woman suddenly shouted in relief and amazement in her voice as she lunged at Harry and started kissing him repeatedly on his cheeks. Harry, amongst all the tension and chaos in his mind at that time, felt

his face burn. When Fleur finally let go of him, he was breathless, but then Bill and Ron entered the room and approached Harry, who suddenly felt a world of guilt. Harry half expected Bill to punch him, or at least scold him or look at him with a

murderous glare, but instead Bill came beside Harry and patted his back.

"Good to have you back Harry...you made us worried for a moment there. So how are you feeling?" Bill's gentle voice and his concerned tone made Harry sigh in relief.

"You look dashing in your underwear, by the way! Any tips for your mate here?" Ron said in mock seriousness as he sat beside Harry. Harry frowned at Ron but then noticed all the fallen covers and bedsheets and then finally his grey boxers, which

was the only thing that he was wearing at the time. He immediately shot a horrified look at Fleur, who in reply coughed and announced her departure to the kitchen.

"Well that was awkward," Bill said as he handed Ron and Harry butterbeers, which Harry only just noticed he had been carrying. Harry welcomed the taste of the liquid in his mouth and he slowly let it flow past his dry throat, then finished his drink

quickly. "Is Draco here?" Harry asked Ron. Yeah, the git's staying with us - with me and Dean," Ron replied, taking another sip of his butterbeer. "Did he say anything about what happened back there?" Harry asked, this time hesitating as Bill was

there. "Well, he didn't at first but Luna and Dean said that Draco helped them by slipping them food and water and...well, volunteering to torture them every time...but instead of torturing them he just took them to the cell and conjured cuts and

bruises and...well, you know what I mean," Ron said in between taking sips of his drink. Harry was shocked at Ron's neutral tone towards Draco. He wanted to argue so he spat:

"But how can they be sure? What if he's planning something? I bet it's a trick...I bet that -" but he was cut of by Bill this time.

"Harry, we made him take Veritaserum, which Hermione herself brewed. She was furious at Draco too she slapped and cursed him - not even Ron and Luna could stop her! I never saw her like that, but it proved that whatever Draco said was true,"

Bill said and then sank further in his chair. Harry, dumbfounded, looked back and forth between Bill and Ron. He couldn't believe what he had just heard. He tried to speak but couldn't utter a single word, so they sat there in silence until Hermione and

Luna appeared in their door step.

"Hermione!" Harry jumped out of his bed as he saw Hermione trembling weakly in Luna's arms, but as soon as he realized his lack of clothing and noticed the astounded look on both Luna and Hermione's faces he jumped right back in. His face was as

red as Ron and Bill's hair, perhaps even more. Both girls were pointedly looking anywhere but at him. "He was hot! Er... sweating!" Ron's blunderous efforts to ease Harry's embarrassment made the situation even worse and he was about to mumble

some more but Bill stopped him by closing Ron's mouth with his hand. "Shut up Ron!" he muttered in Ron's ear. Harry seemed disgusted at Ron, who looked at him apologetically.

"You were unconscious for three days, Harry. How are you feeling now?" Luna finally said, which eased the tension a little. "F-fine, just a headache," Harry murmured while rubbing his forehead. The girls finally came inside the room, and Harry

Accioed a pair of jeans from his open trunk and put it on while still remaining under the cover. Harry and Hermione finally looked eye to eye. "I need to ask Draco something about Voldemort, you can stay here if you'd like," Harry said.

"Harry, I already did that and it seems that he has somehow changed. He's -" -"No, not that," Harry interrupted her. "I need to ask if he knows about some...specific things." What Harry was referring to was clear to Hermione, but she looked at Harry

apologetically and he understood the implications. He looked at Bill and then at Luna and sighed. "How did it happen?" he asked all of them at once.

* * *

"You're not upset are you?" Hermione asked Harry after everybody left them to rest. Hermione was asked to stay with Harry for the night as she was too weak to venture downstairs. Fleur had conjured an extra bed for her which greatly relieved Harry

after Ron had cheekily pointed out that they would have to share a bed. Ron's last remark of "But no worries, they're too tired to do anything" towards Bill was still ringing in Harry's head. He wanted nothing more than to strangle Ron, so when

Hermione asked him the question he didn't reply. "Harry...I'm sorry, I lost control when I saw Draco and I spilled everything out...I even hurt him rather badly..."Hermione whispered nervously, which finally caught his attention.

"What! No, no I'm...it wasn't your fault and I'm not upset - I was just thinking, sorry," Harry blurted out and looked at Hermione who's face softened a bit. "What are you thinking, Harry? We'll ask Draco tomorrow about Voldemort and Horcruxes, but

I doubt that he'll know...I don't think anybody knows but Voldemort and..." Hermione's explanation was long and very detailed but Harry was blinded by Hermione's brown eyes as she talked about Draco and Voldemort. The latter didn't matter to

Harry, at least not for now. Instead Harry found himself lost in thoughts of his beautiful best friend and her contribution to his life. He thought about how he was destined to either live or die but either way he could imagine Hermione by his side

clearly. Harry almost forced himself to try to think about a single significant incident of his life without her presence but couldn't find any.

"Harry! Harry...what's wrong?" Hermione's voice jerked Harry back to reality and he found himself kneeling beside Hermione's bed and with tears forming in his green eyes. He was surprised at first but then he saw the concerned expression on

Hermione's face and suddenly everything came back to him. He grabbed her hand and rested his head in her lap- he was crying now. "I'm sorry Hermione, for everything...for every single thing...please forgive me...your parents, y-your life, I've

ruined it all...I didn't want to..." Harry found all his tension, all his fear, his guilt, pouring out from inside of him and he did nothing to stop them.

Hermione's face softened as she brushed Harry's hair with her hands. "You silly, silly boy..." she said, and kissed Harry's head. She almost smiled at Harry's outburst while fondly looking at him resting on her lap. She was sad, but that was just Harry

finally being himself, pouring everything in front of her, she thought. There were no tears in her eyes, but recognition and acceptance. She rested her head on top of Harry's back as he finally fell silent in her lap.

Both teenagers fell asleep just like that, holding each other. A blonde-haired boy watched them from a distance as he was standing right outside the slightly opened door, and when he lowered his head and turned around he found Ron glaring at him.

He motioned the blonde boy to return downstairs and closed the door properly. As he himself ventured downstairs, a thin smile formed in his lips. "Everything else can wait," he told himself.

* * *

They woke up in the same manner as they fell asleep, still in each other's embrace. Harry stirred first, bumping Hermione's chin as he lifted his head. "Sorry for that," he said when he saw Hermione rubbing her chin, but she didn't complain. "Did I

wake you up?" Harry asked her, and Hermione nodded sleepily which made Harry smile. He stood up first and went to fetch breakfast downstairs from where all the voices were coming.

"Harry..." Hermione's voice made Harry look back at her from the doorstep. He saw that she was staring at him intensely. "You're in love with Ginny..." she said in an even tone. It was hard to tell if she was asking or making a statement but Harry

understood it nevertheless. "I guess I'll always love Ginny... but no I'm not in love with her," he replied and then turned towards the staircase while Hermione looked on. When he reached downstairs he saw everybody at the dinner table. Ron, Luna,

Dean, Bill and even Ollivander greeted him when they saw Harry. "I can never thank you enough, Mr. Potter," he announced and shook his hand thoroughly. Harry sat beside Ron, who slipped him some pumpkin juice. "'Arry, where's 'Ermione" Fleur

said while serving food to everyone. "She's still tired. She -" Harry started but stopped to see Ron coughing and signaling thumbs up to Bill who smiled back. Harry jabbed Ron in his ribs. "Oww! What was that for?" Ron protested as he rubbed his

side. "That was for acting like a git last night," Harry said. "Harry...Draco said he wanted to talk to you," Bill said quietly. "What, does he want special treatment?" Harry whispered back. "He...he said that we have the wrong sword."

Ron's words made Harry spill his pumpkin juice. "What!" he exclaimed at Ron. "Where is the bloody git?" Harry demanded as most of the people at the table looked at him in confusion. Ron pointed out the furthest room from the dinner table and

Harry stormed in that direction.

* * *

Draco Malfoy was staring at the view outside the window, salty air from the sea greeting him and he welcomed the taste in his mouth. He looked at the stormy sea and saw a dot emerge from the horizon upon the water. He strained his eyes to have a

clear view and realized that it was a tiny boat struggling in the waves. His lips curled into a smile. "Just like it..." he told himself and lifted his bottle of butterbeer to greet his invisible friends on the boat. They might not know of his existence but the

blonde boy acknowledged their struggles. But his time alone was short-lived as Harry Potter burst inside the room and grabbed him by his collar. "What do you mean we have the wrong sword! Explain. Now!" Harry spat the words at Draco's face.

"Let me go!" Draco pushed Harry away and freed himself from his grip and screamed in anger and frustration "That's the bloody reason nobody among us have defied him or even tried... why can't you accept what I said...why can't you accept that

I've changed? You and Granger, why -"

"Because I saw you and Snape kill Dumbledore...I was there in the tower," Harry said calmly, but his expression said otherwise. Draco's eyes grew wide, but he said nothing in return. They were both silent until:

"Bellatrix and my father were instructed to safe guard the sword and some of the Dark Lord's possessions," Draco said after some time. "What other possessions?" Harry asked.

"I dunno...they never told me. You know, Potter, the funny thing among all this blood status mania, what I find the most humorous..." Draco said while looking Harry in the eye but Harry said nothing. "...is that he himself is a half-blood...mad, right?"

Draco shot back with a hint of humor in his voice. "It's funny when you find your whole life to be a lie..it's also scary," the blonde boy added as he looked back at the sea through the window. "But I guess you already know that..."

Harry flinched at the words of the boy in front of him. The surprise was evident in his expression, but he was also shocked at Draco's revelation. He realized that his life and the life of his arch enemy from school were more similar than he had

realized,and the fact that Draco was acknowledging it was the most intriguing part.

"Where did they take it," Harry finally said after a few minutes of silence.

"Gringotts...my aunt's vault. I was there," Draco's last words were almost a whisper. Harry turned and towards the door.

"He made me do it...but I didn't kill the professor, I couldn't...I had no choice." Harry stopped as the voice came from behind. "I know... and neither do I," he said, and resumed his walk.

* * *

He met the others at the dinner table again, and this time they were joined by Hermione.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Gringotts...it's in Gringotts, they have the wrong sword, but the Horcrux is there," Harry breathed out as he sat beside Ron again.

"Then we need to go to Gringotts...but how?" Ron said.

"Some of us have to...I...I need to go to Hogwarts," Harry said.

"What? Why, is there another Horcrux there? Harry, you can't go there alone," Ron and Fleur said in unison.

Harry looked at Hermione, who stared back at him defiantly. "You don't understand...he found the wand's location and as we speak he is flying there to get it. And when he does he will be unstoppable with or without the Horcruxes...I have no

choice," Harry said almost pleadingly at Hermione, whose expression didn't change. "What! Who...who has it? Is it hidden at Hogwarts?" Ron said in shock.

"Dumbledore...he had it, he won the wand from Gellert Grindelwald...and it now lies with him. I saw Voldemort interrogate Grindelwald and then kill him...he had no fear, he was very unlike Voldemort. He taunted him and mocked him but did reveal

the wand's position in the end...he knew it would have been a futile effort not to. Voldemort would have gotten the information out some how. He showed respect to Dumbledore...It was strange, but I saw him." Harry glanced around him. "I need to

go and get the wand first...I need to go now."

"You can't...no one can," Bill said this time. "The wards have been changed, no one can get in or out...even the tunnel from the Shrieking Shack has been closed...Lupin told me," Bill added.

"How is he...?" Harry asked, surprised. "He's fine, Harry. He told us to trust your instincts, but this can't be done," Bill said apologetically.

"Getting the Horcruxes is our only chance Harry...please listen to me." Hermione's voice was the cure Harry needed at that that time and it worked as he sighed and slumped in the chair.

"But how can we get into Gringotts? We'll be caught in no time." Ron folded his arms across his chest as he huffed the words in frustration. They all fell silent for the moment.

"The goblin...he could help," Luna said and Bill nodded in agreement.

"Yes.. he was in charge of the security at the bank..and I think I could help," he said. "And so can I..." Fleur added and took Bill's hand under the table. They looked at each other.

"Fine..." Harry said. "And we'll need Malfoy," he added and everybody looked at him in disbelief.

"I think he wants to help." Harry's last words made all of them flinch in surprise and then Ron voiced their thought's in one statement:

"Bloody hell!"

PHEW.. THAT TOOK A WHILE. HOPE THAT THIS IS GOOD. THANKS FOR ALL THOSE REVIEWS BUT I WANT MORE. ;)


	14. Chapter 14

Draco Malfoy, along with four hooded figures, appeared in Diagon Alley and walked briskly towards the famous wizards bank.

"Malfoy! Not too fast!" came the voice of the man directly behind Draco, and he shot a glance at the man. "The plan was walking, not sprinting." Though the face of the man was different the tone of his voice

was unmistakably Ronald Weasley's. They were polyjuiced again in the same manner as before.

"Mione, how long did you say this will last? You know we didn't have much left…" asked Harry nervously as he saw people staring at him.

"I didn't," said Hermione and they both gulped. "Bill? Bill, where are you?" Hermione suddenly whispered to thin air and a head suddenly popped into existence. It smiled then vanished a millisecond later.

Bill Weasley and Dean Thomas were inside Harry's cloak and walked right beside them with wands ready in their hands. When they thought of the plan at Shell Cottage, Fleur and Luna almost pleaded to join them but Harry convinced both of them to

stay as he had promised Luna's father of her safety and Fleur was revealed to be two months pregnant.

Draco stopped as he reached the bank's entrance and took a deep breath. Then he marched inside the bank and announced his arrival dramatically. "Just like good old ferret and his father," commented Ron as he saw Draco act in front of the

gobsmacked goblins. It was all part of the plan and Draco was playing his part perfectly.

* * *

"I demand the key to my vault right now," Draco barked at the Goblin sitting at the counter, who was already shaking his head in disagreement.

"The vault belongs to the Lestranges… you are not authorized to enter, Mr. Malfoy," the goblin answered in a plain voice.

"If I remember correctly, it was joined with the Malfoys' after the unfortunate event of my aunt and uncle going to Azkaban for a sudden vacation many years ago," said Draco through gritted teeth and looked

straight into the goblin's eyes.

"You pathetic little idiot, you are wasting my precious time! I want to talk with your superior…now." He breathed the last words to the Goblin's face with a disgusted look.

"Very…well," the goblin replied, then went inside the room behind the large wooden desk, mumbling some curses at the blonde boy.

"Did you have to be that foul-mouthed? You could have asked him nicely!" Hermione complained at Draco, who merely smirked. Harry in the mean time was distracted by everything that surrounded them, the

thoughts of his first visit here in the bank

flooding through his mind as the Customers passed through a set of bronze doors and then an additional set of silver doors before entering the lobby. The main floor, beautifully paved with marble and having

long counters stretching along its length was startling to him as always.

He was deeply lost in his thoughts when Hermione nudged him and he jerked back to reality. A bigger Goblin occupied the desk now, wearing a black suit and constantly flexing his right thumb with his left

hand.

"You may enter," the Goblin said in an eerie voice, then looked at Ron, who looked terrified, and spoke again. "But your friends will have to wait here…it seems that they are wanted by the Dark Lord for

trespassing and injuring Mrs. Lestrange... I have

been also informed that they might actually be Harry Potter and his friends in disguise…interesting."

The Goblin was now looking in Harry's direction with the utmost interest.

Harry's throat was getting dry. A single drop of sweat dropped from his forehead and the Goblin smiled evilly.

"Imperio!" Bill whispered from under the cloak as the Goblin stiffened and his facial expression became neutral. "Come with me," the Goblin said and everybody looked at him confusingly, including all the

guards who stood at the main entrance to the

vaults directly opposite the desk. "All of you," he added, and everybody swiftly followed. The random customers didn't have a clue about the entire indecent as Hermione cleverly had cast the Confundus

charm.

"B..But sir, they are wanted by the Dark Lord!" the small goblin protested as they were passing him to the main entrance of the vaults.

"Not my Lord," Bill's thoughts were voiced by the Imperioused goblin as he vanished in the Darkness of the tunnel.

* * *

"We'll have to hurry- the instant they find out about us they'll call the Death Eaters," Draco breathed out as he jumped into the cart and it immediately started rolling down the tracks with great speed

towards its destination.

"No, they won't," yelled Bill over the sound of the carts. "Goblins are just too proud to call for help and they absolutely despise wizards, especially the Dark ones," added Bill.

"How the bloody hell will they find out in the first place? I mean, look at us. We're not…well, us," Ron shouted,who was with Harry and Hermione in the second cart.

"Get a mirror, Ron, your hair is red again," said Hermione, pointing at Ron's now changed hair.

"Blimey!" Ron squeaked as he pulled a strand of hair in front of his eyes to judge. "We can't get out. We'll have to be them again, but how?" He added, looking at both his friends.

"We'll think of something," Harry said half heatedly.

The carts were gaining speed now and Hermione grabbed Harry out of fear when it zoomed past a narrow curve with great speed.

"It's alright, Mione, the carts are magical- we won't fall from it. We're perfectly f-fine!" Harry suddenly gasped while assuring Hermione which made her look at the direction in which Harry was looking with a

horrified expression. Hermione froze in her

stance as she saw before them an almost 90 degree incline. The speed of the carts suddenly became very slow as they were now moving up the almost vertical tracks. Everybody inside the magical transports

now held their breaths and ducked inside

the large wooden carts, expecting the worst as Hermione closed her eyes and held on to Harry and Ron tightly. She was thinking that somehow the carts would stop in the middle of the climb and then free

fall to the ground below.

The carts slowly came to a halt as Hermione squealed in fear, "This is not happening!" She quickly withdrew her wand to levitate them if the carts fell but when she got up from her sitting position she was

greeted with a strange view. They were alone

in their ride and there was no sign of Bill, Dean, Draco and the goblin. She was confused at first but then both Harry and Ron pulled her around and she saw what was in the opposite direction. The realization

slowly sank in.

She was looking at the wrong direction previously, the direction from which they got up to the highest peek of tracks in view as there were a few of them on other tracks but not nearly as high. She saw with

fear that the other cart was quickly

disappearing down below in a distance. All three of them braced themselves for the bumpy ride that they were about to endure.

"It was nice knowing you guys," Ron said in a weak tone as their cart started off with them screaming at the top of their voices as the cart descended downwards at lightning speed. Harry felt like his eyeballs

were coming out, and they ducked again inside the cart, holding each other. Ron and Hermione closed their eyes as they thought of colliding with the end of the road, which was the only option for the cart to

stop but with great surprise they felt the

magical cart slowing.

They poked their heads out of the cart to see as it came to a halt only to find Bill beaming at them. "Nice ride, eh?" he said while the three teenagers jumped outside of there container.

"Yeah right," Harry remarked.

"My stomach hurts, I think I'll throw up," Ron commented while clenching his belly.

"I hate this bank," Hermione finally breathed out as Bill grinned.

"This is it - vault number 777," said Draco in a dark tone. All of them approached the vault with caution.

"Griphook said only the main security head could open it," Bill reminded them as they were now pretty close to the door. Bill ordered the goblin to open the vaults doors and he obeyed. He folded the sleeves

of his right arm then placed it on the surface of the door and with a loud crack it melted away, revealing another large metal door. The goblin then pulled out a pair of keys and put one of them in the key hole

and the second door opened with a loud steamy noise as the dark void of the

vault lit. The vault contained great treasures, crammed from the floor to ceiling with gold coins, silver armor, skins of great creatures with long spines and drooping wings, potions in jeweled flasks and a skull

donning a crown.

"Wow! The bitch is rich!" commented Ron.

"Well, Harry, you of all people shouldn't be surprised , your vault contains twice as much- I've seen what your vault's worth in the account register," Bill said happily.

"Yeah, I once heard that the Potters were the third richest in all of wizarding Britain," commented Dean for the first time. Harry felt uncomfortable from their comments. Fame and money were never his cup of

tea.

"Third! Who's first?" Draco smirked at Ron's comment but said nothing.

"That was before the Blacks' fortune was joined with the Potters'. You don't stand a chance, kid, cause the Blacks were the second on that list of crazy rich people." Bill smirked at Draco this time who looked

elsewhere.

"Will you stop it already? how can you talk about fortune at a time like this and besides You're embarrassing Harry," Hermione said in annoyance at the boys.

"Yes mum," Ron answered cheekily and Hermione glared at him.

"I'll go inside, you wait here. Give me the cloak," Harry said as he stepped forward, holding his wand.

"Are you sure mate?" Ron said in concern but Harry waved him down.

"Only one can get inside at a time," he said, and then ventured inside the large vault.

Immediately Harry noticed the cup - it was unmistakeable. Helga Hufflepuff's golden cup rested along side the fake Gryffindor sword.

Without thinking Harry reached for the cup and it vanished into thin air and then a dozen of them appeared in front of him, all floating in midair. Harry cursed his stupidity.

"Accio cup!" he bellowed and all of the golden cups came flying towards him at once. Harry ducked as the cups collided with the wall behind him and they multiplied again.

"Harry, it's a common duplicating charm - destroy each of them and the one left unscathed will be the Horcrux. Remember the locket?" Hermione shouted from the entrance.

Harry pulled his wand from his pocket and was about to cast Inferno when the whole bank erupted in alarm. The sound was so great that it almost made them yell in pain.

"Make it stop!" Dean shouted while trying his best to shut his ears with his hands.

"Potter, you'll have to hurry! Make it quick!" Draco told Harry in frustration.

"Inferno!" Harry roared and huge flames erupted from his wand's tip, resulting in the destruction of half the vault's possessions. When he stopped only one cup stayed on the ground while the others were

melted in the vault. Harry summoned the cup,

conjured another one, grabbed the fake Sword, dropped the note that they had written for Voldemort, then dashed for the exit which was on the verge of self collapse. He barely made it outside when a huge

roar was heard along with an explosion.

"It's the Dragon, I forgot!" Draco shouted in fear.

"What! How could you forget such a huge piece of information, you idiot!" Ron retorted at Draco but their argument was short lived as the huge beast revealed itself.

"Run! Follow me, I know the way out!" Bill shouted at them and they followed the elder Weasley quickly towards the other direction but the Dragon quickly followed, breathing great mouthfuls of fire.

Hermione ducked as a fire ball came her way.

"We're not going to make it!" she screamed as she heard footsteps coming from up front.

"There they are!" a voice shouted in a distance.

"Merlin! The guards are here!" Harry shouted. Nearly a dozen very angry goblins were thirty feet in front of them.

"What the hell are we going to do now?" Dean said in frustration as Harry quickly began scanning the area for possible ways of exit. He noticed light coming from above - there was a hole on the ceiling of the

cave.

"Up there!" he shouted as another fireball flew past him, scorching his hair.

"Those are the air passing systems, but how will we get up there? We can't levitate end there's a steel ventilation door at the end of it!" Bill shouted.

"Then we'll have to break it," Harry said.

"Oh yeah…how?" Draco demanded.

"I have a plan," Harry said and sprinted towards the Dragon as Hermione tried to stop him.

"Harry, no!" she shouted.

Harry stopped just in front of the Dragon's huge head. It was having trouble charging down the cave as there was not enough space for it.

"Imperio!" Harry shouted his lungs out but the Dragon shook the sensation of the curse away and blasted a fire ball at Harry, who dodged it. The fireball almost hit Hermione, but Draco pulled her away.

"Watch it, Granger!" he said to a surprised Hermione, then blocked another one.

Harry saw the fireball barely missing Hermione, cursing himself he faced the dragon once more. He deflected a few fireballs then stunners at the beast, but it kept moving. In frustration he pointed both his

hands towards the oncoming Dragon.

"Imperio!" he shouted again. Two separate beams of light emerged from his wand held in the right hand and and the forefinger of the left outstretched hand. Both spells hit the Dragon on his face and it came

to a abrupt halt.

"Climb aboard the Dragon!" he said to his approaching friends who looked at him in disbelief.

"You Imperiused a Dragon, and you know wandless magic!" Dean commented as he jumped on the Dragon's back.

"I…was desperate," Harry answered.

"Praise later, fly now," Draco huffed as he himself climbed on the Dragon's back.

Harry and Hermione were the last two to climb on the dragon who was now sprinting towars an open space, a large chamber in the midst of he large tunnel. Stretching its wings, the Dragon began to fly

upwards with great difficulty as Harry felt as though his head would burst open as he controlled the magnificent beast. We're approaching the ventilation systems, bill shouted over the Dragon's roar.

"Everyone point your wands at the door" Harry shouted.

"Go on" replied Ron.

"On a count of three, we'll blast it together" Harry roared again.

"Let the dragon be close enough" Hermione injected.

"On a count of three.. ONE..TWO... REDUCTO!" everybody shouted at the same time, just when the dragon was about to crash with the door.

The Dragon burst through the steel ventilation door , with the additional help it recieved, in the middle of a crowded street as every man women and child ran for cover.

"It's a Dragon..RUN!"

"HELP!"

"It's Harry Potter! Look, he's riding a Dragon!" -several voices could be heard from below as they began to ascend and fly towards Shell Cottage with a Horcrux in possession.

* * *

"Harry, we did it!" Hermione hugged him fiercely as they landed near the cottage and Harry willed the Dragon to fly away.

"He might find out," Harry said while still holding the cup. Everyone's face darkened.

Luna and Fleur, along with Ollivander and Griphook the goblin saw the immense beast fly away through the window and noticed their friends in the sandy beach. They came outside the house to greet them.

Fleur jumped at Bill and kissed him, then

she kissed everybody else on their cheeks including Draco who felt terrified at the young woman's gesture.

"Can I see the sword, Mr. Potter? The real one. I hope that it is not harmed," Griphook suddenly said and Harry handed him the sword from his magical pouch. The goblin took it and carefully examined it.

"Ah, it's perfectly fine. Our kind had indeed done an exceptional job," he remarked at Harry who nodded."It belongs to us, forgive me," he said and then apparated away, leaving everybody speechless. Harry

looked back and forth between Bill and Fleur as they were on the opposite sides of the goblin who just vanished.

"That treacherous idiot , why the hell did he do that? Where did he go?" Ron burst out in anger, and looked everywhere for any sign of Griphook but he was truly gone.

"I was afraid of this," Bill said while shaking his head in frustration.

"Now how will we destroy it?" Draco and Dean both said at once.

"Basilisk venom!" Harry whispered and they all looked at him.

"Harry, we don't have any venom…and by the looks of it we won't be able to go anywhere to get it. We're surely the most wanted individuals in all the wizarding world by now. Voldemort will make sure of it,"

Bill said and sat down on the sand. "We don't have to go anywhere but one place…a place that I know has it," Harry whispered again, this time a bit firmly. His jaw clenched, his eyes glowing in anticipation,

he looked at Hermione, who realized the implications just as soon as Harry said it.

"The Chamber Of Secrets!" they said in unison.

* * *

THIS TIME REVIEW MORE, I DEMAND IT. PLEASE!


	15. Chapter 15

"W-What did they take? You tell me, goblin, what did they take?" Rage and fear was flaming inside him as he screamed at the little creature kneeling in front him…It was the one thing that he feared above all else.

The one thing that he had kept secret for all these years even from his most trusted allies. How could this be possible - how could anybody have known? He had come as soon as the news went out that Gringotts

was robbed - more specifically the Lestranges vault - and it terrified him more than anything.

"Tell me, Goblin!" he screamed again. "Tell me what they took!"

"M-My Lord, I-I tried to stop them...the impostors, they came, they Imperioused me!" the Goblin squealed in fear. He couldn't meet the eyes of the snake-like man in front of him. Those fiery red eyes were glowing in

anger and the goblin new that his fate was sealed.

"Imposters? What imposters? This bank was supposed to be impenetrable!"

"It was Potter…H-Harry Potter and his two accomplices, p-please my Lord," he pleaded.

"What did they take? Was it the cup? The real cup?" His voice rose by the second as horror was grasping his mind. It was a feeling that hadn't come in a long time.

"Y-Yes…Please, my lord, it wasn't my -"

"Avada Kedavra!"

The Goblin was blasted of his feet as the green beam of light hit him, but Voldemort's rage didn't stop there. He slashed his wand again and again as more people, wizards and goblins alike, fell to the ground, dead.

Even the Death Eaters were not spared. Only those who were clever enough to foresee the inevitable fled the bank as soon as Voldemort had killed the Goblin. Lucius Malfoy, Bellatrix Lestrange, and a few others

Apparated as soon as they ran out of the entrance of the bank. It was pure chaos both inside and outside the bank. Voldemort kept casting the Killing Curse as bodies fell around him in heaps. The Elder wand was on

a killing spree.

How could he have known his darkest secret, his root to immortality? Was it possible that the boy only came for the sword and took the cup by chance, that he only recognized the cup as Helga Hufflepuff's and not as

a Horcrux?

'Yes…that might be it…' he hissed in his mind. But what if the boy did know? The diary was destroyed, but that was pure luck and he was sure that no body suspected it as one of his Horcruxs. But the cup…what if

Potter had found out? But how could he...

"Dumbledore!" Voldemort shouted the name of the old wizard. "Of course, Dumbledore!" He had always suspected him. He knew the old fool better than anybody. Dumbledore might have understood the implications

of his physical transformation.

"That old fool.." Voldemort hissed as he slayed another fleeing goblin. But Dumbledore was dead - he had been killed on his orders. His one true enemy was defeated, was he not? Surely this was not his doing.

"The boy… he must have told the boy…Aahh!" He blasted the entrance door as he came outside. But how much did he tell him? Was it possible that Potter knew all his Horcruxs, about the ring, Nagini, the locket, and

the Ravenclaw diadem?

"That's impossible!" he shouted, frustration gripping him more and more. Visions from his past life flew through his mind…his evil deeds, all of them. He had made his first Horcrux by killing his filthy muggle father,

but he had hidden that information well. His muggle lineage was unknown and the murders were never traced back to him, so surely the ring was safe. But then the realization hit him. Dumbledore knew his middle

name, he might have made the connection and…and found out the ring's location. Perhaps it was unsafe to leave it there… he must go there first to find out.

Then the locket, it was protected by the most advanced magic, magic created by Voldemort himself. Getting the locket would surely be impossible even for Dumbledore…

Then there was Nagini. He ought to protect her at any cost, never let her out of sight from now on. Then at last the diadem…it was hidden at the safest place possible, in Hogwarts, in a special place. It was the one

place that was unknown to anyone, for it was he who discovered it. He was the one who had unlocked all of the mysteries of that place. Surely that was safe, but he would inform Snape that the boy might return and

try to get inside.

Voldemort was walking down Diagon Alley now, and it was deserted - everyone had fled to a safer place.

"Nobody is safe from me!" he screamed at the top of his voice as a blasting curse completely destroyed a bookstore. An old man crawled out of the ruins, bloodied and bruised, but Voldemort paid no attention to him

for he was thinking again. He was thinking that even if the boy had laid his hands upon a few of his Horcruxs, he couldn't destroy them. And even if the Potter boy succeeded in that nearly impossible task, he would

have noticed.

But he had to be sure.

He would visit Gaunt's shack first, then the lake, and finally Hogwarts. He was about fly up into the air when he finally noticed the old man crawling away from him. His lips curled into a twisted smile. He slowly

walked towards the man who, in desperation, was trying to get up.

"Crucio!" he roared as the man screamed in agony. "This is what happens to those who dare to defy the Dark Lord…" he whispered to a nonexistent audience. "This is what will happen to the boy and his blood traitor

friend... and his mudblood love…Yes, I know it well…" He said these last few words while looking directly towards the sky. "I know you well, Harry Potter...

"Avada Kedavra!"

Harry came back to existence from his unconsciousness and instinctively grabbed Hermione, who was kneeling beside him on the sandy beach surrounding the Shell Cottage. They were walking together down the

beach discussing their plans to go to the Chamber without being detected, but then Harry had fallen to the ground, screaming in agony as if he was being tortured. Hermione, knowing well that there was nothing she

could do, had knelt beside him and looked on helplessly as Harry's body twitched in pain. Tears came down from her eyes, but she didn't wipe them away. She had called for Ron and Luna and they had come.

Harry mimicked Voldemort's voice in his unconsciousness, his eyes turning red, his body temperature rising by the second. She had tried to speak to him, had told him that she was here and that he had nothing to

fear, but Harry couldn't hear her. They had heard everything that Voldemort was thinking or saying out loud and it terrified them.

"This has never happened before…Hermione, stop it, he can't take it!" Ron pleaded as he and Luna held each other.

Then suddenly, just like that, Harry was normal again. He woke and grabbed Hermione, shaking from the effect of his visions. "He...knows about the Horcruxes…about you…about us…he knows," Harry breathed out

as he held her tighter. "He found out, Mione…I couldn't do anything…and if I don't stop him…I…"

But Hermione stopped him, telling him to stop fighting with himself as her grip around him became more firm.

"I don't care that he knows...I want him to know," she said.

"But he…he said he'd torture you, and Ron and…" Harry's voice was full of panic and fear. He had never intended Voldemort to find out about his feelings towards his best friend. He had tried to mask those feeling for

her, and had foolishly thought that Ron and Ginny would be spared for their blood status. It was stupid but he had hoped... but he forgot that his connection to Voldemort's mind was a two-way road.

"You'll stop him, Harry," Luna told him. "I know you will."

But Harry was not sure. They needed to destroy the Cup, then the Diadem which was in Hogwarts somewhere, then somehow they needed to kill Nagini as Voldemort confirmed that the snake was indeed a Horcrux.

And then, if he was still alive after all that, still holding a wand, then he would have to face the Dark Lord, the most powerful wizard of all time, and kill him. Harry needed to beat him, now more than ever, but he

couldn't imagine how.

All hope seemed lost to him at that point until Hermione pulled his head from its resting place atop her shoulders and made him face her. She then whispered, "We'll destroy them all and then…then you'll face him

while we

stand beside you. And you'll beat him. For your parents, for Sirius, for Dumbledore, for me…for us. Harry James Potter, I love you, and I promise that we'll get through this."

Harry looked directly into those familiar brown eyes as Hermione declared her trust and then her love towards him, which he craved more than anything in the world. As the Sun began to sink beneath the ocean and

the cold wind began to blow harder and as everybody watched, their lips met and Harry finally felt that if he had only one reason to beat Voldemort, if she was his only reason, then that would be enough.

SORRY IT TOOK A WHILE, WAS BUSY FOR EXAMS AND IT WAS GOOD. THEN I HAD THE FAMOUS WRITER'S BLOCK(I am a writer now?) BUT THANKS TO AMY...forbiddenharmony7(she's wonderful) THIS FINALLY

CAME OUT, THEN SHE MODIFIED IT A BIT AND VOILA...


	16. Chapter 16

He stood on the doorway of an old house. A careless glance towards it would make it seem like an old beaten-down cottage, but if you look at it patiently through careful eyes then for once you might get to see the

life that it once held, as it was once beautiful. The visitor, though hidden from prying eyes by a powerful disillusionment charm, looked at the street from end to end, and after a minute of careful inspection he walked

forward as the wards were lifted, just as planned.

The house was dark. "Lumos!" he muttered, and a staircase came into view.

Determined not to look at anything in the house that could distract him he quickly went upstairs. A sudden hooting sound stopped him.

"Human Reveilo" he muttered under his breath, but nothing happened. He waited patiently until the flapping of wings signifying the departure of an night owl just outside the house made him release the breath he

was holding. He approached the furthest room from the hallway. The dusty frame of the door was painted green, and he noticed the door knob was broken.

"Alohomora!" he whispered, and the door creaked open. He went inside, wand in hand and closed the door. Some curious soul from across the street could have seen the sudden yellow light coming from the topmost

window of the old house, but none was there to see it. The light quickly faded. The stranger came out of the house a few minutes later, the disillusionment charm fading as he reached the foot way on the other side

of the house to reveal a tall man with long black hair wearing his usual black robes.

As the old house burst into flames the figure of Severus Snape Disapparated.

* * *

A wizard's radio was playing a soft melody while resting atop a sandy beach overlooking a beautiful cottage. A tall red haired boy sat beside it. He was admiring the melody of the song and also drawing random

figures on the wet sand. Two more teenagers sat beside him, a boy and a girl. Hermione's head was resting on the shoulders of Harry, her eyes focused on the horizon where the sun was setting ,exposing a beautiful

red glow which seemed to saturate the color of the ocean. Empty bottles of butter beer were scattered in front of them and Harry was mindlessly playing with two of them. Hermione giggled

as she saw two empty bottles of butterbeer dance with each other along with the song.

"You're still an awful dancer, Harry, so stop trying," she said, amused at Harry's fake reaction.

"I'm most certainly not," he answered in mock seriousness.

"You're becoming good at it," she said now sitting upright, still looking at the dancing bottles a bit dazed.

"Good at what, dancing? I thought I was awful."

"And you still are, but I meant wandless magic - you're controlling it well now." She looked at Harry, then at the bottles, and suddenly felt a burning sensation to laugh but she stopped herself, thinking that it would

be rude.

"Well, these are only small bottles, I wouldn't think of it much," Harry spoke softly as he made one of the bottles do a back-flip. He grinned. "And that would be me!"

But this time Hermione broke into laughter much to Harry's annoyance.

"You're a bad person," he said while looking at the struggling figure of Hermione laughing her lungs out on the sand. It made him smile broadly.

"You're not drunk are you?" Ron spoke this time, amused at his best friends' antics.

"Nope, darling, I'm most certainly not drunk," Hermione answered in between sudden hiccups and the boys looked at each other for a second then they both shouted at once.

"You're drunk!"

"How did you, when did you…?" Ron asked a semiconscious babbling Hermione. "Butterbeers made you drunk!" he added as he saw Hermione pointing at the bottles and trying to sober up a bit.

"But they were so tasty, so strong…sooo strooongg…" She broke down in fits of laughter again.

"Ron!" Harry spoke. "Some of these are not entirely butterbeers." He was inspecting the empty bottles and the ones which were still in the basket.

"What! What do you mean by not entirely?"

"Well by the taste of it…" He took another sip of the butter beer he was holding. "Some of them are mixed with fire whiskey."

Harry handed Ron the butterbeer, who took a sip of it and immediately looked at Harry.

"Oh bugger!" he said sheepishly. "I mixed it up!"

"You what?" Harry retorted, looking at Ron.

"Bill wanted me to get rid of the firewhiskeys…and I did."

"By how may I ask did you do that?"

It was hard for both for them to continue their argument in a serious manner as Hermione continued her babbling. "Then I'm going to kiss the small cute elf. Yup I…will, SPEW all the way!" she said, whooping loudly.

Both the boys grinned at the last comment. "I think Hermione must have picked the ones I mixed," Ron said, trying his best not to laugh himself.

"I think you did a good thing there," Harry assured Ron as they watched a jubilant Hermione dance with an imaginary elf - it was a sight to behold.

"I would kill to preserve this moment!" Ron's remark made them both laugh out loud.

"Get a camera, Ron, quick!" Harry suddenly urged Ron who nodded.

"Right away mate! Yup, now that I think of it our whole life could be secured, think about all the homework we could make her do for us!" They both grinned at this and Ron sprinted towards the cottage as Harry sat

there looking at Hermione with a satisfied smile on his lips.

* * *

"Arry! W'at 'append to 'ermione?" a stunned Fleur asked both the boys as they carried a sleeping Hermione inside the cottage.

"She's fine, just a bit tired from horsing around… or should I say elfing around?" Ron joked for everyone to laugh, but none of them did.

"What are you talking about?" Bill asked while looking confused at Ron's remark.

"Fine! Act like you don't get it, I know it was funny! You should have seen her when she was drunk-"

"Drunk! Bill…W'at do ze mean by drunk?" Fleur looked towards her husband who tried his best not to look guilty. Instead he looked at Ron with a murderous glare.

"She's fine, really, I think she needed that," Harry finally said to relieve the tension between Bill and Fleur a bit, and it helped.

"Granger drunk! We're really in a bad shape aren't we?" Draco's remark annoyed Harry as he saw the blonde boy came down from upstairs followed by Dean, who looked a bit annoyed himself.

"Living in a constant sorrow isn't an option, Draco," Harry shot back as he carefully put Hermione down on a sofa.

"This is war, Potter, people are dying."

"And she is fighting this war more than any of us…for her entire life, for me…because of me. She needs a bit of time to herself. So back off." Harry words were a bit too harsh for the argument they were having.

"I didn't mean like that…what if we are attacked, just now, do you think that she could defend herself in this state of hers?" Draco said while pointing a finger at Hermione who was still sleeping, unaware of what was

happening around her.

"Then I'd protect her. I'll destroy anyone who touches her. I -" but he stopped as a panting Luna Lovegood showed herself, looking distressed, which was surprising for her. Everybody looked at her, concerned, and

Draco quickly took his wand out.

"Told you something bad might happen," he said towards Harry, who ignored him and looked at Luna meaningfully, fear gripping his insides.

"W-What? Were you attacked, are we being attacked?" Dean's voice was full of terror, and he too took his wand out.

"Lovegood!" Draco shouted.

"Say somet'ing Luna, ez anyt'ing wrong?" Fleur's voice was much more composed than the others but she too looked terrified.

Harry wasn't saying anything at the moment, he was just looking at Luna as if she would just explode. He looked at Hermione for a split second, mentally preparing for the worst, and what he would do if that

happened. Ron slowly went towards her and put his hands on her shoulders, and Luna relaxed a bit.

"Luna, relax, what happened?"

"Harry…" she finally said, and her voice was not full of fear but instead her voice was full of concern.

"Harry, your house, your parent's house in Godric's Hollow…it was was attacked. It was destroyed."

"What?" was Harry's only spoken reply. 'My parents house…in Godric's Hollow' he said in his mind. He didn't know how to react to Luna's revelation. He didn't know whether he should be relieved or shocked, so he

just stood there staring at Luna until Bill broke the silence.

"How did you know? Who told you?"

"Ronald's radio," she said while lifting the magical instrument which was still playing a song.

"I saw the radio on my way back from the shore…I was searching for some sea shells and when I saw the radio and reached to grab it, I heard Lupin's voice. He seemed sad and then he addressed you, Harry. He…the

radio told me," Luna finished in a single breath and looked at Harry. Ron patted her back and told her to sit beside Hermione.

Harry and Ron looked at each other for a moment then asked Bill, "Do you have any more firewhisky left?"

Bill seemed taken aback by what Harry asked. There was no trace of sadness or fear or rage in his voice. "Yeah, I think I might have some downstairs in the basement…should I get some for you?" he said.

"I'll help myself," Harry said shortly.

"Harry, are you alright? If you want to talk mate…" Ron offered in a soft voice as he watched Harry move towards the basement.

"No. I'm fine…I just need to think…alone. Look after Hermione." And he vanished into the basement, leaving confused looking individuals behind.

"D'you think he's going to be alright?" Bill asked Ron, who just shook his head.

"I dunno," he replied.

"Should we just leave him alone?" This time it was Draco.

"No, we'll wait for Hermione to wake up. She's the only person who could get through to him," Ron sighed and then looked at Hermione sadly. "Looks like you have a handful to deal with when you wake up, Mione."

HERE'S ANOTHER CHAPTER FOR YOU, NOW REVIEW! I WANT MORE REVIEWS COZ I'M GREEDY, COME ON PLEASE...

**Help/Info** : June Stats: For the month of 2011-06, there have been a total of **15,949 Hits** and **11,564 Visitors** to all of your stories... AND JUST 4-5 REVIEWS FOR THE MONTH, REALLY GUYS REALLY! COME ON I'M A BLIND MAN HERE WITHOUT YOUR SUPPORT , YES I'M THRILLED THAT SO MANY HAVE READ MY STORY IN A MONTH! LOT'S OF THEM HAVE ADDED IT IN THEIR FAVORITE LIST BY ONLY HANDFUL OF THEM HAVE REVIEWED. COME ON GUYS... :(


	17. Chapter 17

Hermione's head was throbbing painfully, and she felt that it would burst open at any minute, especially since Ron's words were certainly not helping.

"And then Harry went inside the basement to get Bill's firewhiskey…Mione you sure that you're alright? You were out cold for fourteen hours straight, I could ask Fleur to give you a potion -"

"No! I'm fine…I just need to think for a moment…alone, preferably."

Hermione rested her head in her hands and tried her best to massage it into feeling better but the pounding only continued to get worse. Ron stood up from his chair, which was beside the sofa, and started to walk towards the kitchen to have a late breakfast when Hermione stopped him.

"Ron… On second thought, I could really use a Hangover potion…" she said in a meek voice, but there was also a tone of defiance there as well. Ron grinned at her and then went upstairs to find Fleur.

Draco was reading The Daily Prophet from that morning and also was watching the conversation between the two. He smirked a bit when Ron went upstairs but kept his eyes on the paper.

"What's so funny, Malfoy?" Hermione snorted angrily.

"Nothing Granger…was just reading," he replied casually.

"Not likely," Hermione hissed. "Come on, spit it out!"

Hermione felt like her head was splitting in half and she wanted to scream or yell at someone for no apparent reason. She thought that it might make her feel better. She almost wanted Draco to spit some insult at her just so that she could insult him back.

"Too afraid to say anything, ferret?"

"Oh, shut it Granger. What the hell is wrong with you, still drunk or what?"

"Yeah, well I can still punch you in your face you…you stupid little Troll..you-"

"You're both too similar," Draco said out of nowhere, and Hermione immediately looked at him confusedly.

"What?" she finally said in a low-key voice, clearly taken aback. She had expected an insult from Malfoy but what Draco said made no sense to her.

"I said that you're too similar. You and Potter. With your self-righteous stubbornness. And that is the reason, the only reason, that I was amused, so now please drink the stupid potion and be your know-it-all self again...Merlin!" Draco folded the paper and slammed it down on the table, then after a while looked at Hermione again, this time a bit more composed.

"Both of you gave the exact same answer to Weasley's exact same question and…oh forget it!"

"Oh," was Hermione's only reply as Draco zoomed past her towards the door of the cottage.

"What's with him?" Ron asked as came back and handed her the potion.

Hermione bit her lower lip and looked at the door and then at Ron. "I might have said some unwanted remark towards Draco, so he's in a bit of a…foul mood."

"Because he's usually so delightful? He said something offensive, didn't he, that venomous oaf," Ron huffed and sat beside Hermione on the sofa.

"No Ron, he was actually being nice," Hermione's voice was a bit strange for Ron to fully understand her.

"Malfoy being nice! To you? Now that's some news for the prophet to publish."

Ron then looked at Hermione with a goofy expression which made her roll her eyes and smile a bit.

"D'you reckon he fancies you?" Ron suddenly asked and Hermione spit the rest of the potion on her lap. She looked at Ron with the most horrified expression possible.

"What! No…No! Are you out of your bloody mind?" she almost screamed at Ron who just looked more goofy.

"Well I mean think about it, saving you from the dragon and then being nice to you and all…"

"Oh shut it Ron, your logic is as bad as a house elf's."

She immediately regretted the words as she saw Ron jump from the sofa, grinning from ear to ear.

"There, you said it…finally! You admit it then, that elves are stupid!" he said happily.

Hermione just looked at him, speechless. She knew Ron wasn't going to allow her to take her words back, no matter the interpretation. She opened her mouth a few times to argue but nothing came out which made Ron's grin wider.

"You know I didn't mean it like…I didn't…If you utter a single word again about this - this absolute nonsense - in front of the others, especially Harry, then I'll make your life a living hell Ronald Weasley," Hermione said sternly after a long pause, but Ron's grin stayed on his face nevertheless. He kneeled down beside Hermione with a serious look on his face, but she could tell that Ron was joking as usual. Annoyed, she frowned at Ron as he took her hand in his.

"Hermione…" Ron started with the most perfect pronunciation that he could muster. Hermione almost smiled at Ron's antics. "Hermione…You have been there for us, mainly for that git Harry through thick and thin, whatever that may be, so for that I solemnly swear that I, Ronald Bilius Weasely, will keep my food loving mouth shut, in front of everyone and I will never tell a soul that Malfoy -"

"Hello Hermione...Hello Ronald," Luna declared as she approached them from the doorway. She looked at their joined hands for a moment then looked at Hermione. "Are you alright?" she asked in a polite tone.

"Yes…No!" Ron said, as Luna passed them to the stairs. "I mean, she will be after an appropriate amount of time...I was checking her pulse…so weak…she'll need…Hi, Luna."

Luna flashed him one ingratiating smile and then disappeared upstairs.

Ron huffed and exhaled then looked at Hermione, whose annoyed expression had vanished and in its place was an expression that would have made the Weasley twins proud. Ron's face immediately turned beet red.

"What?" he finally muttered.

"Oh, nothing. Just this..." Hermione replied, waving vaguely towards Ron and looking pleased with herself.

"What?"

"Just you know…Luna."

"What!"

"Ronald Weasley...Luna!"

"WHAT! NO…no no no...NO."

"You're smitten by her!"

"I HATE YOU!"

"But you like her…" Hermione said seriously, then grinned mischievously. "Or should I say looove her?"

"Shut up... That's none of your business! Go find Harry and snog or something!" Ron got to his feet and started walking towards the door, when Hermione shouted loudly. She had no idea why she said it, but she burst into laughter as it left her mouth.

"Aw, Won-Won and Loony!" she said, giggling hysterically.

Ron was stopped in his tracks, and he looked wide-eyed back at Hermione, and his eyes grew even wider as he saw Hermione get up, take her wand and point it towards herself.

"Sonorous!"

As she was about to shout again Ron tackled her on the sofa, putting his hand over her mouth. Hermione tried to fight her way out but Ron started tickling her mercilessly.

"No no…stop! Stop! Ron, you git!" she screamed, still laughing hysterically.

"I'll kill for this!" Ron bellowed, though his tickling was less than intimidating.

"No! I'm sorry, hahaha just please stop!" Hermione laughed.

"Why should I you treacherous witch?"

"For Luna!" she yelled.

The spell was still in works and it made Hermione's shouts echo all through Shell Cottage, especially the last two words, which seemed to reverberate into every corner of the dwelling and hang heavily in the air.

Ron was merciless after that.

"Please! Hahaha please! HARRY! HARRY! Stop him!" Hermione yelled through her laughter.

Bill, Fleur, and Luna came running downstairs with worried expressions on their faces, but as soon as they saw the two friends they themselves started grinning.

"Oi Ron! She can't breathe!" shouted Bill over Hermione's sonorous laughter.

"Good, since it was my intention to kill her in the first place."

"Think about poor Harry, who will he song?"

"He can kiss my arse! He'll have to come and make me stop!"

"HARRY! HARRY! PLEASE HAHAHA MAKE HIM STOP! HARRY!"

"Had enough?" Ron asked as he finally let go of Hermione. "Where is that git by the way?" he added, not to anyone particular.

"Still in the basement I guess," Bill said as he sat on the breakfast table.

Luna came beside Hermione and patted her back.

"It's wise sometimes to lose," she said and Hermione frowned at Ron who have her a look of warning in return.

"Looks like Harry chose not to save you this time," Ron snorted jokingly.

Hermione calmly got up and started walking towards the basement.

"Here we go..." Bill said under his breath.

"The war is among us," Ron joked.

Hermione looked back at Ron for a moment then went inside the basement.

"Go easy on him, Hermione," Ron shouted towards a departing Hermione.

"What 'appened?" Fleur asked, amusement still on her face.

"She was going to spread lies about me."

"Now what might that be?" Bill said, mock curious. "Hmmm…" He smirked at Ron and signaled to look at Luna. Ron was about to say something when Hermione came out from the basement, looking frantic.

"Where's Harry?"

Harry was standing in the darkness of the tall trees that surrounded the small town of Godric's Hollow, his eyes fixed on the house, his parents' house. It was almost afternoon and the crowd of people that had gathered beforehand had died out, except for few curious faces. He threw his cloak around him and vanished, only the marks of his footprints on the snow implied that he was taking slow and cautious steps towards the burnt house.

"Harry, this might be a trap," Hermione's voice in his head told him.

"I just have to, just this once…before it all ends."

OK FINE! IT TOOK A LOT OF TIME... SO WHAT! :D

PLEASE FORGIVE ME... COLLEGE IS KILLING ME,BY THE WAY DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 2 WAS AWESOME RIGHT... SPECIALLY THE PRINCE'S TALE, SNAPE FOR LIFE... :)

AND REVIEW GUYS, DON'T ABANDON ME, COME ON...


	18. Chapter 18

Loud whispers filled his years as he walked closer and closer to his parents' house. The smell of burnt wood was now filling his nostrils just before he noticed people. A small number of people, scattered in

even smaller groups, were talking amongst themselves. They didn't dare wander close to the house but their presence was making Harry less confident about his discreteness but he tried to reassure himself.

He was, after all, wearing a Hallow.

"I heard... I heard You-Know-Who himself came," a short man whispered in a sharp tone and Harry flinched. He looked at the small group of men in front of him, and for a moment he stood there.

_"Why Voldemort? _he thought to himself. _Why the house...? So he can draw me out?_ "-He did consider this possibility but hearing it from someone else, even a stranger was riveting. He took one last look

towards the group then started walking again.

The house came into full view and for the first time in his life Harry Potter felt... absolutely nothing. He always thought about this moment and how he would feel, how he would be saddened to see his

parents house all abandoned, but now as he stood there all by himself, he was numb. Not a single emotion came to his mind while seeing his own home for the first time, at least the one he had, in ruins.

He felt his legs moving again after a while, and he reached the small metal gate that was presumably the only resistance left for anyone to enter the house's premises.

The rational part of his brain, the one that belonged to Hermione, was telling him to check for protective spells or any signs of dark magic looming over the house but he didn't bother. There was no protection

of any kind. He felt nothing. As he walked passed the gate and into the house a tiny silver light lit up in the topmost room, and for a moment, though it was visible from the street, it remained unseen.

The main door led Harry to a reasonably spaced drawing room. He could tell that it was once beautiful- walls painted with lively colors,the entire room dressed with expensive furniture... But as he looked

around, they were all gone, burnt away, nothing was left. He tried to recall anything, the faintest memory about the house and his life in it, but there was nothing left to trigger his memory. He had lost track

of time just standing there until a loud hooting made him jerk back to the present.

He took one last look all around then slowly turned towards the door but stopped abruptly as he heard a faint sound coming from upstairs. For a moment he panicked, cursing, then braced himself for anyone

or anything which might attack him. But nothing happened. He waited there with his wand raised for a few more minutes then gradually lowered his wand. There was nothing and no one there, he was

absolutely sure about it. All these months of running from Death Eaters and making sure that he, Hermione, and Ron were safe had made him quite vigilant. There was no anti apparition wards either, at least

he didn't detected any, so he turned back to face the room again. He took the nearest staircase to climb upstairs. The faint whispers were still audible but they were not recognizable. He thought , rather

hoped, that it must be the voice of some unknown relative of his, mourning for his loss, for how little remained of the Potter house. He was also hoping for it not to be a trap, but he couldn't stop. Once

upstairs he faced the only door to the left from where the whisperer were coming, and as he walked at the door he was surprised to see it almost unharmed. The door still had color, it was still green, its

clean surface made obvious by the dreariness of the rest of the house. Very cautiously he turned the doorknob and almost willed the door to open itself bit by bit. His wand was raised as he entered the

room. He was ready to fire stunners at anything that moved, but again he was greeted with silence. He truly felt sad at this point. "_At least one Death Eater would have been nice to exert my frustration on", _he

thought.

_"But there is something here, there has to be_," he continued in his mind, as the whispers hadn't stopped yet- or was he imagining it all this time? But then the room glowed.

A single silver flame, as small as candle's came to existence in front of him. He backed up a bit, clearly surprised and definitely worried. Drops of sweat began to form on his forehead. The flame was static for

quite a few seconds but then it began to move, it moved quickly towards the only person present at the time. Harry tried to block it, to somehow shield himself from it but the flame reached him before he

could do anything and it vanished on his forehead. For a moment he thought that nothing had happened, but then he felt it. A very familiar sensation, something he only felt a couple of times. He recognized it

just before he was lost in it. "Bloody hell!" he whispered.

* * *

"Bloody hell!" yelped a very surprised Ronald Weasley as he fell face burst on to the snow. "Get up Ron!" Hermione said while observing her surroundings. They were in the graveyard at Godric's Hollow.

"Why apparate here? Didn't you have a better place in mind... it's a bloody graveyard!" Ron bickered as he got up and brushed the snow of his damp clothes.

"Yes, I can see that Ron. This...is the place where Harry's parents were buried."

"Oh... How did you know... I mean, Harry never told me."

"We came here, to Godric's Hollow once, to see if Gryffindor's sword was hidden here or not... this was also Dumbledore's home, you know. He lived here with his family," she said in one breath, as if to remind

herself of its importance.

"We visited the graves of his parents..." Hermione added after a moment while pointing a finger at the graves lying side by side.

"When?" he asked, very halfheartedly as he himself knew the answer.

Hermione looked at him, also knowing that he knew the answer as well as she. "When you left...after some time." Her voice was calm.

"I'm sorry," Ron said.

"You're long forgiven Ron, it's just..."

"No...not for leaving, I mean it was mostly the Horcrux's fault...well mostly." He smiled weakly.

"I'm sorry for not being with my best friend, for such a big moment. I feel terrible," he said.

"Shut up, Ron, let's find Harry," she retorted but there were no hard feelings in her voice. She felt quite proud that Ron had finally become the man he ought to be.

"Oi..You could have said something more pleasant you know... it hurt my feelings," Ron huffed in mock anger and Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Oh shut up Ron. Actually it was better that we were alone..."

"You snogged here didn't you...I knew it!" Ron shouted in a matter of fact tone, a tone very similar to Hermione's.

"Oh for Merlin's sake... No, we did not, we were attacked by that vile snake! I would have most certainly had to take care of both of you dolts!" she snapped back.

"And besides we hardly kiss or make out for that matter. There is a war going on, or did you forget?"

"Yeah, and that's what scares me, how could you not snog?" he joked which finally made her smile, but she hid it from her friend.

But then sudden realization hit him. "Make out? I never asked that! Oh so you two do make out, guess Bill owes me one hundred galleons!" he said, overjoyed.

"I wish that I could put you in a grave Ronald Weasley...while you still breathe," she said, glaring.

"You know sometimes, when these kind of thoughts come to your mind, I wonder...are we really doing the world a favor by defeating You-Know-Who, or are we making it worse by setting you and for that

matter the idea of S.P.E.W, free." He received a punch on his face which finally shut him up.

"Aren't you worried about Harry?" Ron asked after some time.

"Well he is wearing a Hallow so until he takes it of he can't be harmed, at least not by those stupid Death Eaters. They won't even detect him and we know that Vo...You-Know-Who is somewhere outside of

Britain to find out about the locket. And besides, I put a charm on his galleon. If he feels pain, I'll feel it." She showed him her locket which now had the DA galleon attached.

"You really just can't leave him alone can you," Ron said.

"Never," she replied.

"I feel sorry for him," he added, and he was again punched.

* * *

Harry was standing inside the Headmasters office in Hogwarts. He was so stunned by what had happened that for quite a few minutes he couldn't move, but then he heard a familiar voice shout "Lemon

Drop" and the door swung open. Harry almost fainted as he saw Albus Dumbledore come forth from behind the door. The old wizard paid no attention to him and sat on his chair, clearly in pain.

"Professor!" he said.

"Professor Dumbledore!" He yelled this time when the Headmaster didn't respond, but to no avail.

He was about to shout again but Severus Snape now suddenly appeared at the doorway. Harry in the blink of an eye withdrew his wand and fired "Stupefy!" but the spell went past him like he was nothing,

and Snape didn't flinch. It was then when he realized that he was indeed in a memory, but he couldn't understand how.

Snape was now standing beside Dumbledore. Harry noticed him doing complex wand movements towards the hand of Dumbledore, the very hand which was damaged. Harry was perplexed by what was

happening in front of him.

"You should have informed me long ago, I could have contained the curse further, I could have done more." Snape was furious at the headmaster but Dumbledore merely smiled.

"How long do you think I have Severus?" he asked gently.

"Not long I'm afraid, maybe a year. Maybe less. I've contained the curse in one hand by now, but it'll spread." Snape hesitated.

"It is an extraordinary powerful curse, I'm surprised that it didn't kill you right away, you have your extraordinary skill to thank for that but..."

"Oh, but I was a fool Severus, I was tempted by the ring, Gaunt's ring, after so long..."

"Tempted! What are you talking about?"

But Dumbledore remained silent.

"I have only you to thank Severus, I'm very fortunate to have you." He smiled again towards Snape.

"I daresay that this makes my decision even clearer now about Draco."

"The boy?" Snape asked, surprised.

"You know the Dark Lord's plan, don't you? To kill me, to make Hogwarts his very own by penetrating its defenses by the help of Draco."

Snape just nodded.

"Then you know what to do Severus. Do I have your word that no harm will come to any students if they choose to return?"

Snape nodded again.

"And," Dumbledore continued, "when the time comes you would be the one to kill me Severus in Draco's place?"

This time Snape flinched, but he nodded afterwards. He was clearly taken aback but he understood the implications.

"The boy's soul is still unharmed and I don't want.."

"And my soul?" asked Snape, his voice a bit raised.

Dumbledore smiled again, and motioned Snape to sit on the chair that Harry so often sat, when he came to the office, and that was indeed often.

"You'll be helping a dying old man, I daresay that if Bella or Dolohov or for that matter Greyback choose to kill me instead of the boy, it won't be as painless as I hope," Dumbledore finished and looked Snape

in the eye, his stare as piercing as it ever was.

"But what if the boy fails to break through the Hogwarts defenses," Snape argued.

"But he will, and you are going to make sure of it because otherwise Voldemort will kill him... He is still my student."

Harry felt a tear emerging in his eye. He had almost began to question Dumbledore's intentions before, when he had found out about his past about the letter to Grindelwald and his friendship with him, but

listening to the old professor made him realize how wrong he was.

"I...I'll try," Snape answered finally. He was about to leave when Dumbledore stopped him.

"There is one more thing, Severus"

Snape faced the old man again.

"The boy needs to meet you before it ends, you'll have to make sure of it. Harry must find you and when he does come back to Hogwarts, you will convince him."

"Potter." It was more of a statement than a question. "And how will I do that?"

"Tell him everything."

"I...I can't." Snape's voice was almost a whisper.

"The boy needs to know your past, or he might never be able to believe you or understand you."

Snape was silent.

"What are you and the boy up to? Why are you absent from the castle more often than not, with the boy?" Snape finally said.

"Harry needs to learn information, Severus, information that will help him to understand what he needs to do."

"And what is that?" asked Snape

"That is not for you to know, for now," Dumbledore calmly replied.

"Why do you trust the boy more than me," Snape said icily.

"It is not a matter of trust, Severus -" Dumbledore started but Snape didn't let him finish.

"How can you trust the boy so blindly? Do you think that he can really single-handedly defeat the most powerful dark wizard of all time?"

"Harry will have help. He has friends, friends who are ready to die for him."

"Granger and Weasley? Yes, the girl is smart and quite powerful but I don't believe that she or the Weasley boy would be of any significant help," Snape answered.

"But they will, and besides Severus, he has you."

Snape looked at him for a moment, then he started talking again.

"The boy's magic is mediocre," Snape snapped.

"I believe the opposite," Dumbledore injected calmly.

Snape hesitated at first. "The boy is still not powerful enough."

"But he will be," Dumbledore said.

"He needs time," Snape argued.

"He will have time, I have arranged for it!" Dumbledore slammed his good hand on the table indicating that the argument was now over.

There was silence again.

"What are you hiding from me?" Snape broke the silence at last.

"Come back to my office tonight Severus, and I promise you that I'll hold back no more."

The memory shifted and found himself in the office once again. It was very late at night, Harry could tell. Dumbledore was walking back and forth now and Snape was glued to his chair.

"Harry...he...he needs to know that when the time comes, Severus, he needs to shed all fear, all connection and he needs to accept...his..."

Harry's mouth had become very dry, and was sweating heavily. He wanted to know, he needed to hear what this was all about, but just when Dumbledore was about to finish what he was saying, Harry felt

a pull and then he heard the voice, the same voice which had become the voice of his mind and perhaps of his heart, permanently.

Hermione was shaking a seemingly sleeping Harry.

"Ron, water! Now!" Hermione shouted.

"Aguamenti!" shouted Ron as Harry was greeted with a stream of conjured water, and he coughed his way to reality.

For a moment he looked at both his friends as if he didn't recognise them, then he frantically began to search for the silver flame.

"Where is it, where's the flame...a small silver flame, find it! We have to find it!" Harry got to his feet and paced back and forth, eyes frantically searching the room.

Ron and Hermione were baffled at Harry's antics.

"Mate! There is no flame, calm down!"

"No, you don't understand, it was there...it was in me...no, I was in it," Harry spoke desperately, as if his life depended on it.

"Harry, what do you mean? Calm down and tell us, please!" Hermione pleaded, her eyes full of concern, which finally calmed Harry down a bit.

"What did you see when you got here in the room?" he asked his friends.

"You were sleeping, well according to Hermione you were dreaming, your pupils were moving like crazy," Ron stated.

Harry sat down beside them, and motioned them to do the same. There was was long pause as if he was deciding what to tell them and how.

"The silver flame,- He Began," it was a memory... some kind of a memory charm. It made the whole room act like it was a pensieve...did you ever hear of anything like it?" he said, directing the last part to

Hermione, who simply nodded.

"Advanced magic used to turn any enclosed space into a temporary pensieve. I don't remember the incantation though," she answered.

"Whose memory was it? Your parents', they must have put it in, you know for one day when you'd come visit."

Harry was shaking his head at Ron.

"Then whose memory was it?" Hermione asked.

"Snape's. It was Snape's."

"WHAT!" Both Hermione and Ron expressed their surprise at the same time.

"Snape's? Are you sure?" Ron asked.

"Yes, but I think all this was for me to come and visit the house. He wanted me to see the memory. He was instructed to..."

"By You-Know-Who?"

"No, by Dumbledore."

There was long pause after that.

"We need to go to Hogwarts. I need to find Snape," Harry declared while getting to his feet.

"Harry, this could be a false memory, whatever it was. It could be a trap!" Hermione said.

"No, I don't think so Hermione. If he wanted to get me he could have done it easily when I was seeing the memory." He looked at Hermione with a guilty expression. "Sorry for worrying you, but I had to

come, and I thought that it would be dangerous."

"So you left me behind?"

"I can't lose you."

"And I can?" Hermione's voice almost broke, though the anger was quite evident.

"Guess no one was worried for me. I'm so fortunate, I think I'll cry." Ron's comment seemed to dissipate the tension in the room and they smiled begrudgingly.

"No Ron, I left to protect both of you. Like I said, I'm sorry," Harry said, which Ron greeted with a curt nod.

"What did you see in the memory?" asked Hermione.

"I'll tell you, but I have to eat. Let's go back to Bill & Fleur's." Harry offered them his hands to apparate them.

"Harry, there are anti-apparition wards there, you can't apparate," Hermione said matter of factly.

"What? I don't detect any."

"Did you even check before you entered the house?"

"Well, I came in and felt nothing and obviously I'm all right."

"Check again idiot, the ward is a bit weak but it's there," Hermione retorted.

Harry motioned his wand and was surprised.

"Yes, I feel it...but I still think I can apparate," he said.

"You can't apparate while you're inside an anti-apparition ward, even I know that," Ron said, half amused.

"Yes, thank you Ron for the enlightenment," Hermione said. "Look Harry, let's just go outside the house discreetly, then we can apparate."

"Grab my hand, both of you," Harry ordered.

"Harry perhaps it's because of the cloak that you feel this, but three of us can't get inside it," Hermione said, but Harry was somehow very confident at what he was doing.

Harry put the cloak in his small magical pouch then offered his hands gain. They took it hesitantly, and with a deep breath Harry turned in his place and all three of them vanished without a sound.

YUP I'M BACK!

WAS BUSY...

VERY VERY BUSY...

OR PERHAPS A BIT LAZY, TOO :)

BUT NO WORRIES I'LL FINISH, I HAVE TO FOR MY SAKE.

SO REVIEWS ARE WELCOME,IF THIS IS GOOD ENOUGH AND YOU ARE KIND ENOUGH.

"DHANNYABAD- BIDAY" THANKS AND SEE YA... UNTIL NEXT TIME.


	19. Chapter 19

Harry stood facing the grey ocean that surrounded the Shell Cottage. He had been standing there for hours looking at the dying waves as they desperately tried to

touch his feet. He was dressed in black, in Bill's old robes, which was accompanied by the cloak of invisibility strapped around his shoulders, giving him a

distinct, Auror look. His face was grim. The broken Phoenix wand, which was long ago stored into the magical pouch around his neck, was in his right hand again, a

single strand of wood still holding the two halves together. He kept glancing at it from time to time wishing, for it to be whole again.

It had been seventeen hours since Harry had Apparated Ron and Hermione from his parents' house in Godric's Hollow directly into the kitchen of Bill and Fleur's

cottage, and by doing that he had broken not only one but two successive anti-Apparition wards, one weak and the other relatively powerful. With the obvious

exception of his best friends, only Luna had noticed their sudden arrival at the time. She was the only one present in the kitchen at two in the morning. She had

been surprised at first, at least Harry thought that she was by her expression, but then a second later she smiled and said, "Welcome back! Tea?"

Everyone else was half asleep, either on the sofa or in the armchair, on the carpet lying on the ground or in Dean's case (and most amusingly), on the dinner table.

"Why are you awake so late at night?"

Harry had asked Luna as they came to the dining room through the kitchen and saw the fate of everyone else.

"They were too, up until a few minutes ago," Luna had answered while fondly looking at all asleep. "But they seemed too tired and worried and so I gave them tea,

and they all fell asleep."

"Tea? Just tea made them all fall asleep? In the middle of all this!" Ron had asked with a bit of surprise.

"With a little sleeping mist, yes."

"You...gave them sleeping mist without their knowledge?" Hermione had asked, clearly puzzled.

"They were worrying too much. They needed rest and besides, you lot were fine, I could see."

Hermione considered letting this slide by, but her curiosity got the better of her. "Fine, how?"

"The Nargles, the ones who always dance over Harry's head... they told me. So, tea?"

Luna smiled again looking at a perplexed and confused Hermione.

"Do these have mist too?" Ron then asked dully.

"Yes. Do you..."

But before Luna could say anything more, Ron took a cup, poured in some tea for himself, and then drank it in one swig.

"Try it, though it's not that warm," he said before going upstairs to his room.

Harry soon poured one of his own cup and offered Hermione one.

She gaped at him at first, then exclaimed "Oh bloody hell" and took the cup and after both had drank the tea she took Harry's hands and pulled him towards their

room, which they were sharing mainly due to Luna's persistence.

"Sleep tight!" Luna had told them.

"Er...thanks," was all Harry could say.

* * *

Harry finally smiled at this thought and put the broken wand in his pocket.

"You ready, mate?" whispered Ron, and Harry turned back to face him and Hermione before giving a mute nod.

Hermione came forth and took his hands in hers and gently rubbed them, looking into his green eyes. Those brown eyes gave him strength and hope like they had always

done. Harry looked at Ron again. He nodded in response and came to his other side and took his arm.

"Hogsmeade would have wards too, you know... sure you could reach it?" Ron spoke.

"Bill, Fleur…Draco, Dean… have they all gone to the Order? Did Lupin get my Patronus?"

They both nodded to Harry and he sighed.

"Then let's find out."

He then turned on his feet and they were gone.

There were noises, extremely loud noises, screams of men, women and children and every creature known to wizards and witches and they seemed to come from

everywhere.

It all started as soon as their feet had touched the ground. They immediately let go of each other's hands and put them on their ears. It took her all her will

power not to scream back at the source of the noises and demand for them to stop. Instead she grabbed Harry and Ron and pushed them behind a broken cart to get some

cover.

"How the bloody hell did we get detected? We had the cloak, it should have worked like before," Ron breathed out amongst all the chaos. Harry looked at Hermione for

the answer and after a few moments of self-pondering, so did Ron.

"Oh I don't know, you can't expect me to know everything!"

"Blimey! I never thought that I would hear those words from your mouth...not in my lifetime, at least."

Harry chuckled at Ron's declaration.

"We're about to get killed here and all you can do is make jokes?" retorted Hermione.

"Well somebody had to say something..." Ron started but he had to stop.

"It's Potter... he's here! Call Snape!"

"No, summon the Dark Lord!"

Suddenly the shouts came from the gates of Hogwarts. At this point all three of them had drawn their wands but remained behind the cart. Hermione quickly cast

protective charms around them so they would have some time to flee or take other cover if they were detected. Or so she hoped.

"We should run towards the Forest, I think there's too many of them," Harry urged them.

"You two go, I'll stay... I'll try and distract them," Ron stammered but his face was too serious for his friends to think that he was joking again.

They both looked at him intensely and then Harry punched his arm.

"Shut up, Ron! We'll go together," Harry stated as Hermione looked at him sternly.

"Ok fine, then let's go!" said Ron.

"Wait!" Hermione said as she pulled Harry back as he was going to get up from behind the cart.

"What!" he asked, surprised.

"They haven't called Voldemort yet."

"You want to wait for them to call Voldemort!"

"No! Just wait. Trust me, I'll explain later."

Both Harry and Ron stared at Hermione in confusion, but they obeyed her.

Suddenly they heard footsteps, many footsteps all around them – Death Eaters were everywhere. It was a bit foggy but they could clearly see the figures moving in

the shadows.

"Harry!"

Hermione whispered and he turned to face her.

"Take my hands and Ron's,"

He quickly obeyed her orders.

"Now cast the disillusionment charm, and Muffliato. Now!" He did so and everything felt silent.

Until they saw feet, not of men, but of wolves…werewolves.

Fenrir and his pack were heading towards them slowly, sniffing the cold air, their eyes glowing in the darkness.

* * *

"Blimey!" Ron squeaked in fright.

Harry tightened his grip on his friends more, sweating like a pig now. Not one of them moved an inch. Suddenly one of the wolves jumped in their direction and

landed nearly on top of them, looking at them directly, still sniffing. Hermione could smell his foul breath on her face, making her want to vomit.

Ron, in desperation, lifted his left hand and holding his wand tip right in the face of the creature, he was ready to fire at any moment. But then the wolf looked

upwards and jumped over the cart and vanished. All three of them breathed again.

The shouts started again, after a long moment of silence.

"It's not Potter!"

"How can you be sure, Dolohov?"

"The boy's presence would have alerted the wards differently, you of all people should know that, Goyle. Even an unwanted rat's presence could alert us the way it

did!"

"Well what if the ward had malfunctioned?" Goyle offered, not happy with the answer.

"I put up the wards myself."

The voice this time was Snape's and Harry almost lost his nerve. He wanted to storm at him and curse him and make him spit out everything he knew but Hermione's

tight grip on his hands reminded him of his current position, so he stayed.

"The wards were made according to the Dark Lords specifications while he was there himself," Snape went on. "Do you or do you not know this simple fact, Goyle, or

do you question the Dark Lord's better judgment? Perhaps you should tell him that in person."

"No no, I was just expressing my c-c-concern…"

"But someone or something did come, you can't deny that," Dolohov spoke, in a mater of fact tone.

"Yes, and we better find that or those unfortunate trespassers, but as you can see, they are not here and by staying here we are wasting time, so I suggest we find

them...Now." Snape let out the words in the most cold manner as possible, even for him, Harry thought.

"Where do you suggest we go then?" somebody from the back asked Snape, Harry couldn't see who.

"Not to the gates, perhaps towards the shack. There used to be a secret entrance, or did you forget that also?"

"We'll go to the forest, on the other side... I smelled flesh there... beyond that cart."

Fenrir pointed his long nailed finger at them, and Ron gulped.

Snape looked in their direction, and then towards Greyback.

"Be my guest," he replied through gritted teeth.

"And where will you be, may I ask?" It was Dolohov this time.

Harry couldn't see Snape's expression but could have sworn that Snape almost drew his wand to hex Dolohov.

"Unlike you Dolohov, the Dark Lord has given me Hogwarts to run...I'll be in my office if something unexpected happens."

With this Snape took one last glance at them and stormed towards the gates of Hogwarts.

Dolohov looked at Greyback and nodded. In response Greyback nodded to his pack of werewolves, who immediately started running towards the broken cart and just as

they neared it, they jumped over it one by one.

"Why are you staying back?" Dolohov spoke to Fenrir, who in return looked surprised.

"To go with you, to the shack..." he replied.

Dolohov smiled at this response from the werewolf.

"You think that we'll let you join our ranks, you filthy creature? You think that the Dark Lord wants you to join? Or do you think that some potion which makes you

lot look like us at times like these will makes us adopt you as our dear puppy?" he hissed.

Dolohov's voice had so much venom and disgust that Fenrir almost screamed at him anger and frustration, but knowing the consequences, he just took a few steps back

and ran towards the Forbidden Forest. Dolohov sneered at the retreating figure of Greyback then signaled his men to follow him to the Shrieking Shack.

"Bloody Hell!" Ron finally let out all the immense tension in one loud swear and got up. "What the bloody hell was all that!" he added after a few seconds of

sweating and further cursing.

"At least we're still alive, aren't we"? Harry reasoned, smiling weakly.

"Well I'd prefer facing all of them at once than sitting here and almost dying of several continuous heart attacks...bloody hell!"

"Calm down, Ron, we're fine...just stay focused," Harry said a bit forcefully and motioned Ron to sit.

"I'm sorry...I was a bit...scared, I'm sorry," Ron said, then dropped down in his spot behind the cart, looking at his friends for a moment before lowering his head

in self was silence.

"Thanks, Ron!" Harry said.

"For what? Jokes? I'm not joking, mate."

"No, not for that, although I'm grateful for your jokes as well... I thanked you for admitting that you're scared. Because I'm scared too, but I could never have

admitted it...guess I'm not as brave as that." Harry smiled at Ron, feeling that a weight had been lifted from his chest.

"I'm scared too, you know," Hermione said as she rested her head on Harry's shoulders.

"So the most powerful ward in all of the Wizarding world can barely detect you... that's something, don't you think?" Hermione stated after a while, a bit proudly,

her head still resting on Harry's shoulders.

"Barely, you call this barely? It was an explosion for Merlin's sake, everyone noticed," Harry protested while shaking his head in disappointment. "I thought that

it would work, that I could do it."

"You did... don't you see Harry, the wards only noticed that there was a disruption of sorts, that something or someone passed by it, but not whom or even what, and

this is Voldemort's magic we're talking about. I can bet in Merlin's name that this ward can trace every single one of our magics, even any magical creature's, like

an elf."

"How can you be so sure? Perhaps the wards did indeed malfunction," Harry still protested, not feeling so confident himself.

"No Harry, Hermione's right and I can prove it you."

Harry looked at Ron, surprised.

"How?" he asked.

Ron smiled at him.

"Because we've been saying Voldemort, all this time, but look – nothing's happened, we're not being attacked, we're not being chased!" Ron finished in one breath as

Hermione nodded in approval.

"And it's because you had cast the protective spells around us when I told you to, you're master of the cloak Harry, you're master of one Hallow!"

They all locked eyes for a moment.

"So you reckon that Voldemort wont know I'm here, if we enter the castle?"

"If you don't want him to, yes, I'm positive," Hermione replied. There was a long moment of silence again then Harry stood up as his friends did, then once again they joined hands and Harry prepared to turn

on the spot for side along Apparition once more.

"Harry? Harry, are you there?" The voice came suddenly and Harry stopped.

"Harry, it's me!"

All three of them turned to face a tall boy. Standing just a few feet from them and holding a wand in his hand was Neville Longbottom. He was looking in every

direction, he couldn't see them. Harry let go of his guards and all three of them became visible to Neville.

"Neville! What are you doing here... wait you are Neville, right?" Ron spoke while holding his wand at him.

"First year, Hogwarts express... my stupid frog," he answered smiling as Harry, Ron and Hermione ran and hugged him.

"How did you find us? Who told you? And why are you here at this ungodly hour, you'll get killed," Harry spoke in concern.

"Well, I can ask you the same mate... but no worries, I had help."

Neville pointed them towards the nearby door of the Hog's Head pub, and as they looked on a face appeared from behind the door... It was Lupin.

Harry wanted nothing more than to embrace his former Defense Against The Dark Arts Professor as the guilt of screaming at Lupin and calling him a coward while he

came to help them in Grimmauld Place came flooding at him the instant Harry saw his face at the door step. And so he did, as they came inside the old pub along with

Neville.

"It's nice to see you too," a teary eyed Lupin spoke gently as he patted Harry on the back while still holding on to him. When Harry finally let go of him Ron and

Hermione also came forward and hugged their former professor.

"I'm glad that all of you are alright," he spoke as he looked at each of them.

"How have you been, how's Tonks!" Harry asked tentatively.

"We're all fine Harry, we were just worried for you lot."

"How's the baby!" exclaimed Hermione suddenly.

The word 'baby' rang in Harry's head like a church bell, his eyes grew wide as he looked into Lupin's eyes and then it hit him like a 'Reducto' or even worse, he

had forgotten all about Lupin being a father. Lupin looked at him kindly and smiled.

"He's fine…Teddy is fine. He's like his mother, exactly like Tonks."

"That's fantastic! A Metamorphmagus like Tonks, wonderful!" said Hermione.

"You must be relieved!" blurted Ron in enthusiasm and then immediately regretted saying those words.

"I... I didn't mean it like that," Ron started in a hurry but Lupin waved him off.

"I was, I was very relieved. I too was afraid that Teddy would have my curse, but thank Merlin he's normal... he's not me."

"You're fine, professor."

"Teddy would be lucky to be like you."

Neville and Hermione spoke in succession.

"Yes, he would be," Ron said, looking a bit down, but the sincerity was present in his voice.

Harry kept staring at Lupin as Hermione, Neville and Ron comforted and congratulated their old defense professor and an old friend who was in all probability the

closest thing Harry had for a father. But how could he have forgotten? Harry kept asking the question to himself in hope of finding a valid answer but he found

none.

"Harry... do you have any more delightful thoughts to add about me?"

The question came suddenly towards Harry who in response just looked back and forth between Lupin and Hermione. He wanted to speak something, anything but his guilt

held him back. He closed his eyes for a long moment and sighed. Lupin was looking at Harry curiously and so was Hermione. They exchanged concerned looks at each

other then walked towards Harry. Hermione reached him first.

She touched his forehead gently with her palm, the soft gentle touch made Harry open his eyes, which were filled with guilt.

"You all right?" she spoke with concern.

"You seem unwell, Harry, perhaps you should rest a bit here before we step inside Hogwarts… there's no rush," Lupin injected as Hermione nodded in approval.

"I'm alright, it's nothing really," he answered sheepishly.

"You clearly looked unwell, Harry. Don't hide anything," urged Lupin.

"No no, I'm fine, I was just taken aback by the good news!" Harry looked elsewhere as he spoke, he couldn't face him with all the guilt pouring from his face. But

Lupin was persistent and clearly was concerned for Harry, but for the wrong reasons Harry thought.

"How so?" he asked.

Harry sighed then looked back towards them, taking a moment before he started.

"All that I've heard in the past eleven months were the news death and torture," he said, looking at Lupin. "And I guess that it had made me so corrupted that the

birth of a new life in the midst of all this seemed..."

"Not right?"

"Actually I was going for too good to be true." Harry smiled broadly towards him which finally made Lupin sigh in relief, and he smiled back in return. They all

shared smiles with each other with Ron's being the broadest.

"Blimey! I'm going to be an uncle or like an uncle," he said.

"Uncle it is Ron, not like an uncle," Lupin happily patted Ron's back as he said it.

"Remus!" A deep voice spoke from behind the bar and everyone turned at once in surprise. Harry, Ron and Hermione had their wands out and they were now pointed

towards a tall figure residing in the darkness.

"Who's there, show yourself!" shouted Hermione.

The tall man took a few steps forward as the moonlight from the half broken window of the pub fell on his face. The old man had wiry grey hair and beard and his

eyes were bright blue.

"Dumbledore!" was the only word that escaped from Harry's mouth.

**Thank you for all the wonderful reviews from TeamHarryandPeeta123 Goober girl happylady blake015 frostykist pawsrule ShortieJ and others.**

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	20. Chapter 20

The old man looked towards Harry in stern silence but he said nothing. He had the same blue eyes, but his face was different…it was rough and had more lines of worry than Dumbledore had ever had, even in the times of grave despair. It was as if he had seen only trouble and great sorrow in his life.

"Aberforth! Isn't that your name?" spoke Ron. "You're his brother," he added after a moment of silence. "And you're a bartender," he added after another moment, as though Aberforth was unaware of this.

The old man seemed offended as an audible grump escaped his lips. He took his eyes from Harry and fixed them upon Ron, who wanted nothing more than to just run away screaming.

They had seen him before, Hermione thought, but had never noticed the similarities between the old bartender and the headmaster, perhaps because…well, he was the bartender. The connection from a bartender to a world-renowned wizard of immense power was not easily seen. But now it seemed obvious.

"You were expecting someone more glamorous and powerful?" Aberforth said, as if reading her mind. "Someone in the position of giving orders and dictating lives I assume?" He looked at Harry intently as he said those words. "Sorry to disappoint you, but I am not my brother."

"Aberforth! This is not the time," said Lupin a bit harshly.

"Not the time for what?!" Aberforth Dumbledore bellowed towards Remus Lupin, who took a step back looking a little taken aback.

"Aberforth, please!" said Lupin tiredly.

"No! I'll not let you lot sacrifice these children in the name of a failed cause, for the disillusionment of my brother. Isn't his death enough to make you understand!?"

Lupin's shoulders slumped at the outburst from the old man.

Harry was looking back and forth between Lupin and Aberforth, well, mostly towards Aberforth as he was the one talking audibly and Lupin was only shaking his head in disagreement. It seemed to him that they had this same argument countless times before in his absence. Harry wanted to interject, to speak on Lupin's behalf, but his mouth refused to form words.

"Look at him, Remus, look at him! He's just a kid, he's barely seventeen!"

"I'm almost eighteen," Harry spoke automatically, then immediately regretted it. At first Aberforth seemed surprised as he turned his attention from Lupin to Harry. His face looked as if a goat had suddenly spoken in perfect English in front of him and in the process had insulted him. But after a moment his face grew dark and in a flash his wand was drawn and the tip of it was resting upon a bewildered Harry's nose. Two sets of wand were also drawn simultaneously, Ron and Hermione looked feverish as they pointed them respectively towards what they presumed was a mad man. Neville Longbottom and Remus Lupin stood with their mouths wide open, wondering whether they should intercede, but then the old man lowered his wand. He took a step back then turned away from Harry. Aberforth took a couple of minutes before speaking again.

"It seems that he has turned you well, like most of the people he had influence upon. It's such a shame."

"Turned me? Turned me into what?" Harry demanded.

"A puppet! A puppet who's willing to put his life as well the lives of his friends in danger for a lost cause such as this."

Aberforth's voice had lost its prior anger but the tone of utter disapproval was still there. He gestured towards all the people except himself and Harry in the process.

Harry's demeanor darkened as he accepted the accusation from the old bartender.

"We are doing what is needed to be done and we are doing it willingly," Harry spoke, his voice calm.

"So you believe. So did all at a certain point of their lives. But my brother... Albus Dumbledore is dead."

Aberforth poured himself a glass of liquor as he walked behind the bar.

"Albus Dumbledore died still believing in the cause, still believing in the Order...I was there," Harry said again but he was cut short by his intended listener. Aberforth's voice rose again.

"He believed in a lot of things in his life! But sadly most of them were all his disillusions for- "

"It was not disillusion! He was right! He was always right... I knew him, we all knew him," Harry interjected this time.

"Oh my dear boy! He was wrong. He was wrong far too many times. You know nothing, Potter, you believe what he told you to believe and you know him you say? More than me, his own brother?"

Harry tried to say something but the old bartender continued.

"I've suffered his wrongs, boy, for many years I've suffered for his grand plans and I did nothing. I _said_ nothing. But not anymore... You get away from this school, Potter, and out of the country if you can. Take your friends with you, especially her." He pointed towards Hermione. "Forget the plan, the grand scheme, forget Hogwarts and its headmaster and save yourself."

"You don't understand, he…he left me a job," said Harry again.

"Did he now?" said Aberforth. "Tell me, Potter, is the job easy? Sort of thing you'd expect three underage wizards to be able to do without going missing and presumed dead for months?"

"I —" Harry felt overwhelmed. He could not explain the quest, the Horcruxes, so he took the offensive instead.

"But you were fighting too. You're in the Order of the Phoenix, you believed in him-"

"I believed in stopping You-Know-Who, not in my brother," said Aberforth. "Look around, kid. The Order is finished. If you had any brains you'd leave, and fast."

"I can't! Not now...it has to be me! Dumbledore explained -"

"Hah! He explained? Without secrets, without riddles? Tell me, Potter, did he tell you everything?"

Harry was again at a loss for words. He looked between Ron and Hermione, who themselves looked speechless. A lump formed in his throat. Harry wanted to scream but towards whom, he was uncertain.

"Why do you doubt him, your own brother?" he finally mumbled looking utterly defeated.

"It was because of Ariana, wasn't it? Something happened to her... Mr. Dumbledore?" said Hermione timidly but her voice had that certainty that Harry always found riveting.

The old man was silent, eyes traveled to the painting of the girl over the mantelpiece.

"Yes," he said. "Been reading Rita Skeeter, I see. Good read I assume but far...far from the truth..."

Even in the dark Harry could see Hermione's face turning red.

"Then tell us the truth. Why do you doubt him?"

Aberfoth glared at her, for a moment it seemed that he would not speak a word to them, but then he exploded, his anger burst into words.

"Ariana was six years old when she was attacked by three Muggle boys. They'd seen her doing magic, spying through the back garden hedge. She was a kid, you see, she didn't know about all the secrecy of wizardkind. They thought that it was a trick they couldn't understand…they forced their way through the hedge, they forced Ariana to do the magic again. After many tries she did it again I think but what they saw scared them…they tried to make her stop but she couldn't. She couldn't control it, no one can at her age, they got a bit carried away trying to stop the little _freak_ doing it..."

A loud gasp left Hermione's mouth, and she fell back a few steps in shock. Harry seemed outraged at what he was hearing. He had heard enough, he wanted the old man to stop.

"They…what they did destroyed her and when our father found out he went for the muggle boys, those bastards... he was sent to Azkaban for it... he never told anyone the truth about why he did it. He wanted to keep Ariana safe from the Ministry…they would have taken her away. She was unbalanced, her magic was unstable and dangerous.

"Albus never bothered with her. He was never home and when he came he busied himself in books. My mother looked after her and when she was not there I looked after her. I was the only one who could control her. I was her favorite, you see, not Albus," he said as he stretched his hands towards the girl in the painting. She looked pale but beautiful, and her kind eyes were full of tears.

"Then one day I wasn't home and she was with my mother. She had one of her rages…it was an accident but my mother was killed."

He was trembling now. Hermione felt a horrible mixture of pity and repulsion; she did not want to hear any more, but Aberforth kept talking.

"So after the incident my brother seemed to change, he stayed home more and took care of her. Ariana was getting better and it seemed things were getting better but then he came... Grindelwald." He spat out the name, his demeanor positively darkened.

"He was his equal! Albus finally had someone he could talk to. He thought that he was his friend but I knew better…he was evil, I could sense it from him. I tried to reason with Albus but alas, he was blind towards him. Together they had this great plan for wizardkind and they went on their fantastic adventures to find hallows and whatever else and caring for my sister took a backseat again. She was neglected for the 'greater good.'"

"One day I came back from Hogwarts early and I saw that he was taking Ariana with him to wherever they were going. I argued, I told him that he had to choose... He tried to give me a speech, but I refused to listen to any of it and he seemed…he seemed to understand." He paused for a moment.

"But Grindelwald didn't like that at all. He got angry. He told me what a stupid little boy I was, trying to stand in the way of him and Albus...He took his wand out and cursed me…Cruciatus Curse... Albus tried to stop him and we started dueling each other. My sister was upstairs but she heard all the racket. She ran toward us to help and then...it could have been any of us — but she was dead." His voice broke at the last word.

Hermione's face was soaked with tears as she came forth and put her arm across the kneeling old man. "I'm so...so sorry...please forgive me," she said.

Neville, Ron, and Lupin looked pale, and Harry...He only felt grief. His face was emotionless.

"Grindelwald ran away soon after but Albus stayed behind. But Albus was free...free to conceive yet another grand plan, to become the greatest wizard of all time..." He dared Harry to tell him otherwise but Harry was numb.

"But not to me…to me he was still the person responsible for my sister's death, a person who never cared." He sat down on a tool behind the bar, and Hermione was still patting him on the back. There was a long silence.

"He did care," Harry finally said quietly.

"What?" Aberforth said.

"I said he did care. You have to believe that, sir."

"Is that what he told you?"

"No…he never talked with me about his life, his family...but-"

Aberforth seemed curious as he could clearly feel the hesitation in Harry's voice. "What? Speak up, boy," he urged.

"The night that your brother died…he took me to an island… for...for the quest," Harry said, his mouth dry. He had never told anyone this out of respect for the headmaster, not even to Hermione or Ron, but now, with the respect of Albus Dumbledore in question, he had to. Ron and Hermione turned towards him as they thought the same.

"On that island, there was this thing - an object - we had to destroy. But it was well protected...one of us had to drink a potion to get to the object." Harry paused. "When he drank it, it caused him great pain...he was reliving the memories of your duel…of your sister's death. I know, I could tell…he was shouting '_Don't hurt them, please ... hurt me instead.'_ He regretted his mistakes, he did care...he was too ashamed of himself to say it out loud. You have to forgive him."

Aberforth Dumbledore's eyes grew wide as he remembered those words, a young Albus Dumbledore shouting towards Gellert Grindelwald, hoping that the other man would relieve the unforgivable.

"I…why should I believe you, Potter?"

"You don't have a reason to. But you should."

"But you're only children. If my brother couldn't defeat him, how could you?"

"Aberforth," Lupin said. "Albus loved Harry, he gave him a job, a hard one, believing that he could do it with our help, with theirs." He pointed towards Hermione and Ron. "Now they need your help."

"We need to get inside Hogwarts as soon as possible, please Mr. Dumbledore," Hermione pleaded.

Abeforth looked pale and tired. He got up from his stool and straightened himself. He looked at Hermione with those brilliant blue eyes, which were so much like his brother's, and spoke quietly. "Are you not afraid that if you follow Potter, you will almost surely die...you're still so young."

"I..,we fear dying without him, sir," Hermione answered in a soft yet determined tone. Aberforth smiled inwardly then asked Ron.

"And you, Mr. Weasley? What if you die, with your friends"

"I won't let them" Ron said.

"Very well, then." Aberforth looked at the painting of Ariana. "You know what to do."

She smiled then turned and walked away, not as people in portraits usually did, out of the sides of their frames, but along what seemed to be a long tunnel painted behind her. She walked until she vanished from everyone's view and the painting, most amazingly, became a doorway towards the dark tunnel.

"This is the only way now," Aberforth said.

Lupin and Neville walked through first. They weren't as hesitant as the others as they had traveled through the passageway before, most recently to greet Harry at the pub. Ron and Hermione followed. Harry was still looking at the old man. "Aren't you coming?" he asked.

"Not until I'm needed. There will be a war soon, Potter, you might find me then."

"I thought you'd given up."

"Perhaps one last time...now off you go." Aberforth motioned Harry towards the doorway as he himself vanished in the darkness once again.

They walked through the dark and gloomy tunnel for some time. Lupin had fallen back a bit and now was walking alongside Harry. He wanted to ask him so many things, how he was or how they had managed for so many months alone, but it all seemed a little too demanding at this time, especially since they were all emotionally compromised after Aberforth's story. So instead he chose a rather simple question.

"So..." he began. "You and Hermione?"

Harry almost fell to the ground but he managed to stay upright. He was not expecting any questions, let alone this. From Lupin of all people. He smiled meekly at him.

"As Sirius would have said, about darn time," Lupin said, smiling.

"Sirius?"

"Ever since he was rescued by you two. He said that she reminded him of Lily."

Harry looked at Lupin, surprised.

"I…never knew. He never told me," he said.

"Maybe he would have eventually, if he...had time... He would be very happy Harry. Merlin knows he even wanted to give both of you love potions to, you know, 'speed things up.' Of course I refused to help him and had to force him to let it drop." He paused, smiling, fondly thinking of Sirius. Harry felt incredibly happy and sad at the same time. He had mourned so much for his godfather over the past years and now even more so.

"I miss him," he said, looking at Lupin.

"Me too, Harry."

They walked in silence after that until there was light before them.

The darkness of the ancient tunnel was quickly fading in front of them. Harry heard voices, excited voices, coming from outside the tunnel. He stopped at the tunnel's exit. He was still in the dark of the tunnel so the people on the other side couldn't see him. He heard cheers as Neville exited the tunnel with Ron and Hermione by his side. The cheers faded after a while and he could feel the anticipation building. He braced himself as Lupin smiled reassuringly at him. "Go on," he said. "They're waiting."

Harry took a deep breath and stepped out of the darkness and into the light of the Room of Requirement. After eleven long months, Harry was at Hogwarts, the place he considered home, once again.

* * *

Was so so busy. Sorry for the long wait... Don't hate me. Couple more reviews would be nice! Or perhaps a dozen more. :)


	21. Chapter 21

Harry had never thought of himself as a particularly brave person. Secretly, he had always thought that the

Sorting Hat had made a terrible mistake all those years ago by putting him in Gryffindor. After all, he _had_

practically begged the hat to put him in Gryffindor in the first place—maybe Slytherin _would_ have been a better

option.

Harry thought about that day, his first day in Hogwarts.

"Gryffindor!" the Sorting Hat had so proudly declared, as Harry walked happily towards the cheering Gryffindor

table in the Great Hall and sat alongside his new friends.

He sighed heavily at that thought, but not because he suddenly regretted it…rather, it was because he had

never really thought that he was worthy. But then again Harry knew that there was no other place he would

have rather been at that time.

He knew the reason now.

It was Hermione. It was because she was there, and Ron, too, sitting there at that table, looking at him, wide-

eyed and hoping that he would join them. They were the reason he wanted the grumpy hat to put him there.

"But the damn hat should have known better," he muttered to himself.

He wished that he was brave now; he had hoped that these past eighteen months might have made him

somewhat less afraid. But now, standing in the dark of the tunnel and staring at the bright light before him, he

felt utterly horrified.

But hadn't he thought about this moment countless times before? Since he'd learned that the last Horcrux was

in Hogwarts? In his head he had rehearsed all that he would or could say to his friends, and all that they could

possibly ask him. He thought about how they would react when they saw him, thought that they would perhaps

cheer for him and not resent him.

All of these made up scenarios and thoughts were making Harry feel more and more uncertain about what to

do next and he almost didn't move until Lupin nudged him and Harry looked back.

"They are waiting," Lupin said, smiling fondly.

So Harry took a deep breath and walked into the light of the familiar room.

The Room of Requirement seemed unusually bright to him, much brighter than the last time he was here. The

room was lit by hundreds of floating candles, some half burnt. Bunk beds lined the wall. It seemed to him that

this room had been converted into a sort of refugee camp for the faces now looking at him intently. All of these

faces—faces of his friends—and their uncertain gazes made him gulp. To his horror, Harry realized that he had

forgotten everything he had thought to say to them, his carefully planned speech. About what he, Hermione,

and Ron had been doing and what they intended to do now that they were back. Why they had had to leave

Hogwarts in the first place.

Harry looked at Hermione, who at the moment was standing in between Ron and Neville, for some kind of

help, but even her expression was the same as the others. The silence he had felt before he came into the

Room of Requirement was still looming around him when, suddenly, there was a flash of light.

Harry, stunned and half blinded by it, looked in the direction of the sudden burst of light, and he saw that it was

a rather tall Colin Creevey, holding his old camera in his hands and grinning like a mad elf.

"Welcome back!" he shouted at the top of his voice.

The entire room erupted in loud cheers, and Harry was in the center of it. One by one and sometimes many at

a time came and hugged him. There were no questions, no remarks, just wishes of gratefulness that he was all

right and that he had come back for them. Harry had never been so happy in his life. He saw Hermione at the

back of the crowd standing with her back resting on the wall, smiling and looking at him proudly as everyone

was hugging him. Ron, who stood beside her with a bottle of what Harry assumed was firewhiskey, gave him a

thumbs up.

There were so many of his friends surrounding him that he wasn't even able to greet them individually,

because Harry could not figure out who was hugging him and who was next in line to do so. But then there was

an embrace at the very last moment, and the person holding him took longer than the others. Harry at first did

not notice, but then a distinctly flowery and very familiar smell drifted into his nostrils.

The person then broke away from the hug and said "Welcome back" as Harry came face to face with her. It

was Ginny Weasley.

He had thought about this too. This inevitable confrontation with Ginny. But the moment he stepped into the

Room of Requirement he had forgotten about her imminent presence. Harry remembered what he had

intended to say to her, how to make her understand the situation, about Hermione and Ron and himself. But

he had also wrongfully presumed that somehow he would be alone with her and not in the middle of every

single Gryffindor he knew.

And to make the matter even worse, someone from the back of the crowd suddenly shouted, "Kiss him!" Just

brilliant.

Instinctively, his eyes ventured towards Hermione for assistance, but she looked pale and quite blank of

expression. So, flustered, he looked at Ron, who in response finished half of his firewhiskey in one long swig.

Out of his wits with anxiety, Harry took a step back and willed himself to look at Ginny again. To his surprise,

Ginny was not paying him any attention at all, instead she was looking at Ron and Hermione. Harry took this

opportunity to take another small step back as she looked at Harry again, and then, for a brief moment, her

gaze shifted directly back to an awkward-looking Hermione.

Harry felt the whole room was involved in this back-and-forth gazing game. He just wished for everything to be

civil. Harry was about to take a third step backwards when Ginny suddenly looked at him again and this time

her stare remained upon him for a much longer time period. Harry, for better or worse, just couldn't

understand the expression on Ginny's face. He parted his lips and was about to talk when the voice from the

back of the crowd interrupted again. "Well, kiss already!"

This time Harry recognized the voice. Seamus, the bloody prat. Harry wanted nothing more than to punch him

where it would hurt the most, but at the moment he was painfully motionless. To his horror, Ginny smiled

mildly then took the necessary steps to reach him. Her face was inches away from his when Harry closed his

eyes. The kiss landed on his right cheek. Ginny broke the touch a second later then whispered in Harry's ears:

"How did you manage Ron?"

It was about that moment when Harry opened his eyes once again, utterly surprised as Ginny leaned back

from him. She was smiling!

"I…we didn't, he managed us," he answered while everyone cheered again, much to his annoyance, but he was

nevertheless happy and relieved.

"You should go to her," Ginny shouted.

It was hard for Harry to hear anything in the noise as everyone was celebrating loudly but he understood the

notion. "She is still holding her breath!" Ginny finished, still smiling.

"Thank you,'" he replied fondly and sincerely, then ventured towards a visibly relaxed looking Hermione

Granger.

"Looks like it went well, eh?" Ron stated as Harry reached them, still holding the unfinished bottle. Harry

settled between them, resting his back to the wall.

"Quite well, I'd say," he replied. "You alright?" This time the question was intended towards Hermione. She was

still a bit shaken and anxious, so she just nodded and smiled.

"She is an amazing girl," remarked Harry gratefully, to which Hermione nodded again.

"Yeah she is, but don't tell her I said that," Ron added.

"I should talk with her," Hermione said, and both boys nodded.

Ron offered Harry a bottle of firewhiskey as Hermione walked towards Ginny, who was now chatting with the

Patil twins, apparently about what just transpired.

"You'll need this tonight. Apparently it's the last bottle. Saved this just for you, mate," Ron said.

"Thanks, Ron," Harry said, and accepted the bottle gratefully.

Lupin, who was still standing in the darkness of the tunnel, decided not to disrupt the celebration by entering

the Room of Requirement.

"They should have their moment," he told himself, then walked back towards the bar. Aberforth Dumbledore

was sitting alone in a wooden chair behind the counter. A very old picture of his family resided in his ancient

hands. They were all smiling at him, his brother, his sister and even himself. He was once again lost in old yet

vivid memories when the portrait swung open for the second time.

"Why are you here, Remus? Did they not let you in?" Aberforth's old grumpy voice echoed inside the empty

bar.

"I was hoping you would."

Aberforth wordlessly Accioed a chair before him and motioned for Lupin to sit.

"I have only bread and beer...Muggle kind," Aberforth offered.

"Ah, the best kind there is," Lupin happily answered as the old bartender busied himself in acquiring the

refreshments. He opened a small door of a previously undetectable cupboard beside Ariana's portrait. He

handed Lupin a bottle from a small crate. It didn't have a label on it, but Lupin didn't care. He took a long swig

from it, savoring the warm taste.

"How did you get these?" Lupin inquired.

"I have my ways...besides, all the rest of the lot, our kind, were taken by the Death Eaters."

Lupin raised his bottle to Aberforth and they drank in silence for some time.

The night grew darker around the great castle as time progressed. Though it was far from midnight, the thick

fog around the Forbidden Forest made it almost impossible for a normal wanderer to see, but Severus Snape

was not just any normal man.

The boy had returned. He knew it, and somehow the boy had broken through the most powerful barrier known

to wizardry, the Hogwarts Anti-Apparation ward, along with many more protection spells. How the boy had

managed it was baffling to him.

Perhaps the girl, Snape pondered while almost running through the hazy landscape. "The boy is here and the

Dark Lord will so follow," he murmured while briskly walking towards his intended target. The Shrieking Shack.

Though the tunnel from there to the castle was carefully closed down by Snape himself to prevent any

intrusion, he had to be sure that no one had gotten through. The Death Eaters would never suspect it.

'Fools,' he thought.

He needed the boy before The Dark Lord returned. Severus Snape's ghostly figure disappeared into the fog as

he approached Hogsmeade. The Shrieking Shack was just in front of him. The boy must die, and he had to

make sure of it. It had to be him.

"So tell me, Remus" Aberforth began. "Why are you lot really here? To fight a losing battle in hopes of winning

it… Or just because my brother asked you to?"

Lupin had gotten up from his slumber and paced around the bar. He disliked questions to which he had no

answers. So he remained silent.

"Do you believe in the boy, Remus? Can he do it on his own when the time comes?"

"He will have us; he will not be alone," Lupin argued. "We've had this conversation many times before and

every time my answer remains the same. Yes, I do believe that Harry can do it."

"He is just a boy, Remus! Even my brother couldn't—"

"Enough!'" bellowed Lupin. "I have answered the same question too many times, I won't answer it again." He

looked at Aberforth sternly, but the old man was shaking his head. His eyes looked misty.

Lupin took the wooden chair that Aberforth had gotten for him and sat beside the old bartender. "I know that

war is not won with sentiment," he mused. But Lupin couldn't tell whether it was because of the amount of beer

they had just consumed or whether the old man had gotten emotional again. Lupin put his arms around

Aberforth, who in response looked at him pleadingly and asked, "Then tell me how. I need to know… He killed

my brother, Remus! I need to know what chance we have in returning the favor." The old man had definitely

gotten emotional again.

It was not that Lupin didn't want to tell. He was himself not aware of it until recently when Bill came to him

with Luna Lovegood, Dean Thomas and three more surprising guests. What he heard had terrified him. He

knew now more than ever that when it came to evil, Voldemort had no limits, and he also understood why

Dumbledore had asked Harry to keep the knowledge a secret. But the old man deserved to know and

furthermore they needed all the help they could get. So he began slowly and hesitantly.

"There are these objects he made by performing the darkest of magic... these objects need to be destroyed for

him to be mortal again…before Harry... before we face the Dark Lord."

Aberforth's demeanor immediately grew darker than it already was. He had heard of them before, in his

youth. He vaguely remembered his brother mentioning these objects in his many conversations with

Grindelwald while they searched for ways to be undefeatable. Even Grindelwald resented this particular path of

being immortal. Aberforth suddenly wished for Lupin to stop, but by then it was too late. "Horcruxes," Lupin

breathed heavily. "They are called Horcruxes."

And Aberforth's eyes grew wide in recognition.


End file.
